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Use of vegetation patches by small mammals in the arid Andean foothills of Argentina was studied. The species showed relatively high habitat specialization. Microhabitat use differed between the dominant species, the rodents Calomys musculinus and Graomys griseoflavus. Patterns of habitat occupancy accord with their distribution at the plot or the geographical scales. Species affinities for vegetation variables suggest that habitat structure is an important factor in structuring the small mammal communities of the Andean foothills. (C) 1998 Academic Press Limited.