THE IMPORTANCE OF WILLOW THICKETS FOR PTARMIGAN AND HARES IN SHRUB TUNDRA: THE MORE THE BETTER? DOROTHÉE EHRICH1, JOHN-ANDRÉ HENDEN1, ROLF ANKER IMS1, LILYIA O. DORONINA2, SIW TURID KILLENGREN1, NICOLAS LECOMTE1, IVAN G. POKROVSKY1,3, GUNNHILD SKOGSTAD1, ALEXANDER A. SOKOLOV4, VASILY A. SOKOLOV5, AND NIGEL GILLES YOCCOZ1 1Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, University of Tromsø, 9037 Tromso, Norway. E-mail:
[email protected] 2Biological Faculty of Lomonosov Moscow State University, 1 Leninskie Gory, Moscow 119991, Russia 3A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, 33 Leninskij prospekt, Moscow 119071, Russia 4Ecological Research Station of the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Division Russian Academy of Sciences, 21 Zelyonaya Gorka, Labytnangi, Yamalo-Nenetski district 629400, Russia 5Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Division Russian Academy of Sciences, 202, 8 Marta Street, Ekaterinburg 620144, Russia ABSTRACT.—In patchy habitats, the relationship between animal abundance and cover of a pre- ferred habitat may change with the availability of that habitat, resulting in a functional response in habitat use. Here, we investigate the relationship of two specialized herbivores, Willow Ptarmi- gan (Lagopus lagopus) and Mountain Hare (Lepus timidus), to willows (Salix spp.) in three regions of the shrub tundra zone—northern Norway, northern European Russia and western Siberia. Shrub tundra is a naturally patchy habitat where willow thickets represent a major struc- tural element and are important for herbivores both as food and shelter. Habitat use was quantified using feces counts in a hierarchical spatial design and related to several measures of willow thicket configuration.