Changes of vertical arrangements in plant communities cause changes in processes and habitat parameters such as microclimate, nutrient cycles, arthropod behaviour and others. Therefore the description and analysis of structural dynamics is the basis for investigations at the level of processes. With VESTA (VErtical vegetation STructure Analysis), an improved photographic method of analysing vertical vegetation structure was designed to study various spatial parameters, especially in pioneer and grassland ecosystems. Following standardised data sampling in the field based on digital photography, the spatiotemporal characteristics of the vertical vegetation structure can be extracted by a newly elaborated software (SideLook). The new method is introduced, and parameters of analysis such as “denseness” and “roughness” are defined. Evaluation of the method gives these main results:
— multiple structural characteristics of vertical vegetation structure can be obtained on the basis of digital images,
— the method is quick and easy to apply in nearly all weather situations,
— the data output is robust against differences between persons using the method,
— the effects of optical distortions are slight, and height and other parameters are robust in a comparison to field data,
— a good correlation with above-ground phytomass coverage was found, and
— the data output can easily be used for subsequent data analysis, e.g. by ordination techniques.
In order to demonstrate the possibilities of VESTA with reference to some examples, the following studies are introduced:
— Structural data for six plant communities were discriminated by a PCA, showing the gradients of succession on sandy soils.
— Spatio-temporal changes such as phenological rhythmicity are depicted.
— The grazing impact is characterized as an example of disturbance processes: Here the upgrowth continues on the ungrazed plots whereas height parameters decrease and the spatial heterogeneity increases under sheep grazing.