Tolerance of Festuca rupicola Heuff., Botriochloa ischaemum (L.) Keng., and Salvia nemorosa L. to co-occurring drought, high air temperature and high irradiance were investigated in stands representing different degree of degradation. Air and leaf temperatures were higher for the stands in the advanced degradation stage. The net photosynthetic rate was not significantly lower and WUE was depressed in the degraded stands as compared to the intact stands. Carbon fixation type seems to have outstanding importance in the outcome of degradation processes in semiarid temperate grasslands.