Michael L. Jennings

The removal of 50% annual alligator production over a 6-year period on 3 central Florida lakes did not appreciably change population size structures. On Lake Jessup, increases were found in the >0.6 m size classes, while on Lake Griffin no changes were found in any size classes. Lake Apopka experienced significant (P <0.05) declines in all size classes, but these declines resulted from unexplained and unrelated mortality and reproductive failures and not from the early age-class harvest. No change in size structure was found for the control area, Lake Woodruff.

Five aerially estimated habitat variables and nest spacing patterns were used to develop predictive models for evaluating the status of American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) nests on 2 lakes in central Florida. Models developed from data on 146 and 54 nests on Orange Lake and Lake Woodruff, respectively, indicated that none of the habitat variables were useful in predicting nest success. Nests occurred in clumped distributions in some years, but were not clumped in the same areas from year to year. Until more reliable methods for evaluating nest status are available, management...