The relationship between long-term dynamics of reproductive parameters and body condition were studied in female water voles
from a cycling population. Body condition was estimated from the deviation of body weight (excluding the weight of the uterus
with embryos) from the theoretically expected weight calculated from the equation of body weight regression with respect to
body length. As the index of body condition increases upon transition from decline to peak in the population cycle, the numbers
of corpora lutea and live embryos also increase and the risk of resorption of the entire litter becomes lower.
Key words body condition - population dynamics - litter size - embryonic mortality
Original Russian Text © V.I. Evsikov, G.G. Nazarova, V.Yu. Muzyka, 2008, published in Ekologiya, 2008, No. 6, pp. 436–440.