| Front matter | _ | 
            
              | Article: Experimental investigation of alpine plant communities in the Northwestern Caucasus | 1 | 
            
              | Front matter | 1 | 
            
              | Table of Contents | 3 | 
            
              | Preface: Preface | 5 | 
            
              | Chapter 1: Study area and general description of the investigated communities | 6 | 
            
              | Chapter 2: Phytolith analysis and holocene dynamics of alpine vegetation | 23 | 
            
              | Chapter 3: Experimental research of alpine communities with use of reciprocal transplantations | 41 | 
            
              | Chapter 4: "Mass-effect" in alpine communities of the Northwestern Caucasus | 61 | 
            
              | Chapter 5: Soil seed banks | 69 | 
            
              | Chapter 6: Natural "gaps" in alpine meadows and plant population strategies | 83 | 
            
              | Chapter 7: Shading experiments in alpine grasslands | 89 | 
            
              | Chapter 8: The spatial structure of alpine lichen heaths (ALH) : hypothesis and experiments | 100 | 
            
              | Bibliography | 112 | 
            
              | Index: Veröffentlichungen des Geobotanischen Institutes der Eidg. Techn. Hochschule, Stiftung Rübel, in Zürich | _ |