There are two types of applied implication from these findings. The first implication is that the PFT can be a useful tool in predicting species’ responses to grazing and, for conservation purposes, identifying species promoted by or vulnerable to land-use changes. However, these predictions cannot be extrapolated from one region to another and are applicable only at local scales. This means that we need more empirical studies in different situations. A network of long-term studies on land-use change effects could be implemented in different vegetation types, within a region, to allow monitoring and more realistic extrapolations. It remains unclear if the study of more functional traits specifically related to disturbance regimes, lacking at the moment for the Mediterranean flora, could provide more consistent predictions (Pausas, Rusch & Lepš 2003). However, even with these simple traits available, management implications could be derived. Grazing abandonment, for example, favoured the development of shrubs and trees in most conditions (Tables 2 and 3 and Fig. 1), indicating that animals limit these species in grazed zones. The prevalence of shrubs can lead to further deterioration of pasture quality and, in turn, to further abandonment (Perevolotsky & Seligman 1998). To conserve traditional grazing systems and their species, the proper agricultural subsidies should be applied in order to equilibrate economic benefits with environmental protection. Subsidies based on the numbers of animals are leading to big flocks, which in turn are more difficult to manage in remote or in dense vegetation areas, resulting in a greater abandonment (Rook et al. 2004). In contrast, subsidies based on the surface of land grazed encourage shepherds to exploit a larger part of the territory, if enough controls are provided (i.e. remote-sensing tools).