alligators in this study inhabited may partially affect their condition due to either an

abundance of prey in the habitat and consumed by the alligators (i.e., Lake Apopka

alligators high condition) or a more evenness of prey consumption by the alligators (i.e.,

Lake Woodruff alligators low condition).

 Alligator condition may also be affected by alligator density differences among

the habitats. I used night-light survey data to estimate the population of alligators > 182

cm TL on the three lakes (A. R. Woodward unpublished data, Woodward et al. 1996)

(Table 3-18). The density of Lake Apopka alligators was much lower than the densities

of alligators on the other two lakes, which were almost the same (Table 3-18) (although

Lake Apopka is a large lake with great amount of open water that is largely uninhabited

by alligators). Evert (1999) also found that the density of Lake Apopka alligators was

lower than Lake Griffin alligator density (Lake Woodruff was not included in his

research) and he found a positive correlation of alligator density with macrophyte

coverage and an inverse correlation of alligator density with human development on

lakes. Lake Woodruff is macrophyte-dominated and has little development, therefore it

fits that there would be a high alligator population density on Lake Woodruff, however,

Lake Woodruff does not have an abundance of any one species of fish. This combination

of a high density of alligators and no abundant prey may cause more intra-specific

competition for prey among the alligators and account for their low condition. A

combination of low alligator density with high resource base (i.e., shad) may account for

the Lake Apopka alligator high condition (i.e., less or no intra-specific competition for

prey).