A full range of both tall and short snowgrass communities are present within the alpine grassland region of the West Coast; Many of the intertussock, fleshy herbs were removed with the initial grazing by wild animals, while the stature of many of the tall tussock communities was reduced with continual heavy grazing. Once major animal control operations were undertaken, a dramatic recovery in stature was recorded on the most favourable sites. This initial response could be very rapid as the tussocks required only a reduction in grazing pressure to attain their full stature.
