DYNAMICS OF WHITE SPOTTING IN THE POPULATION OF WATER VOLE (<i>Arvicola amphibious</i> L., 1758)
The genetic structure of the population of the water voles on the basis of the white spotting and the etogo-genetic mechanisms of its dynamics were studied. The initial data were obtained from the capture of animals from 1982 to 2015. A total of 4,576 wintered and 4223 year-olds were caught. Judging by the results using several methods, it was established that the degree of coincidence is quite high (from R<sub>S</sub> = 0.99, n = 17 to R<sub>S </sub>= 0.79, n = 8; p = 0.05), which gave grounds for correctly analyzing the changes in the demographic structure against the backdrop of the population dynamics all period. A statistically significant correlation was found between the interannual dynamics of the shares of wintered individuals with a spot on the forehead, throat and lip (R<sub>S</sub> = 0.55 - 0.58; n = 22; p <0.05); and yearling with spots of different localization (R<sub>s</sub> = 0.42 - 0.55; n = 22; p <0.05). The correlation analysis did not reveal reliable relationships between the dynamics of the proportion of spotted both wintering and yearling with neither the number nor the watering of the stations. The relationship of the genetic structure to the rate of reproduction is also not established. It is shown that in the decay phase, the percentage of spotted individuals in wintering and yearlings does not differ significantly. The proportion of spotted wintering individuals is minimal in the phases of low numbers, which is a consequence of a decrease in the proportion of similar youngsters in the recession phase due to competition in high-abundance phases between males for access to reproduction, in which the spotted individuals are inferior to the non-spotted ones. A significant increase in the proportion of spotted yearlings was observed in the phases of depression and subsequent upsurge.