235

 hectares of the original 0.58 million hectares remained,

 southwest Florida supported 0.025 nesting birds per hectare

 wetlands (approximately 21.6 g dry wt/ha) and produced

 0.035 fledglings (approximately 30.7 g dry wt/ha). In

 1973-74, when only 0.22 million hectares of wetlands

 remained, the area, including the marshes of Lake

 Okeechobee (0.04 million hectares), supported 0.015 adults

 per hectare (approximately 13.5 g/ha) and produced 0.017

 fledglings per hectare (approximately 14.3 g/ha).

 Production was improved the following year, with 0.23

 breeding adults (approximately 20.2 g) and 0.025 fledglings

 (approximately 22.2 g) per hectare.



 Wood Stork Population Dynamics

 The life table (Table 28) shows Wood Storks having a

maximum age expectancy o- yrs, an average age expectancy

from fledgling _f-7-.26 yrs, and an average age expectancy

from maturity (4 yrs and-ove)- of 9.08 yrs. The table was

based on estimated-s-urvival rates that will serve until

more is known about the demography of this species. The

life table was used to provide the initial age structure of

the population and survival rates for Model III of water

area, fish, and storks.



Life Equation

 Table 29 shows the number of years that can pass

between successful nesting attempts without a gradual long-