Since the early 20th century Patagonian arid steppes have been subjected to overgrazing that led to the degradation of plant communities. We hypothesized that the interplay among grazing history, plant-plant spatial interactions and species traits affects recovery and assemblage of shrub community after short-term abandonment in north-eastern Patagonian arid steppe (Peninsula Valdes, Argentina). We compared six sites (two in grazed pastures, and four in short-term ungrazed pastures, two of which intensively grazed, while the other two low intensity grazed in the past) with regard to: shrub cover percentage (10 × 10 m plots); shrub patch dimension, species richness, and spatial interactions among shrub species depending on patch dimension (patches sampled along transects); species richness and composition, vertical relations among species, and traits related to avoidance strategies and disturbance (1 × 1 m plots sampled along transects). Our results indicated that recovery processes in abandoned pastures a...