Syngeneic adipose tissue grafts showed evidence of necrosis or lack of vascularization in intact, adult (BALB/c/Ki x Ce/Ki) F1 hybrid mice between 2 and 9 months after transplantation. One or more fat depots were surgically removed to produce a deficit in the total adipose tissue mass, and this resulted in an increased number of vascularized and viable adipose tissue grafts in similar genetic hosts during a comparable period. The anatomically dispersed fat depots appear to be under some form of self-regulation and integrated into a total adipose tissue mass.