Table 1. Vital ecosystem attributes according to Aronson et al. (1993).

Structure	Function
Perennial species richness	Biomas productivity
Annual species richness	Soil organic matter
Total plant cover	Maximum available water reserves
Aboveground phytomass	Coefficient of rain off efficacy
Beta diversity	Rain use efficacy
Life form spectrum	Length of water availability period
Keystone species	Nitrogen use efficacy
Microbial biomass	Microsymbiont effectiveness
Soil biota diversity	Cyclic indexes