ML3-PRAC_MaineLakesFish.docx 21NOV2013
Data Literacy Project
Coastal Maine lakes and fish species
Background: The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (DIF&W) monitors fish
populations in many of the lakes in Maine. The table below lists the number of different fish
species in several island lakes along Maine’s mid-coast. Each lake is classified as a "fishery type"
depending on its typical water temperature. Lakes that are shallow and that are fed mostly by
surface water running off from the surrounding watershed tend to be warmer. Species of fish
that prefer warmer water tend to live in these lakes. Lakes that are deeper and (or) are fed by
cold groundwater springs that emerge at the bottom of the lake tend to be colder. Species of
fish that prefer colder water tend to be found in the colder lakes.
(Source: http://www.maine.gov/ifw/fishing/)
Number
of fish
species
11
13
LAKE
AREA
(acres)
34
186
MEAN
DEPTH
(feet)
3
84
MAX
DEPTH
(feet)
5
150
FISHERY TYPE
coldwater/warmwater
coldwater
coldwater
warmwater
warmwater
coldwater/warmwater
coldwater/warmwater
coldwater
Lake name
Long Pond (MD)
Jordan Pond
Island name
MDI
MDI
Lower Hadlock Pond
Somes Pond
Little Round Pond
Round Pond (MD)
Long Pond (SW)
Echo Lake
MDI
MDI
MDI
MDI
MDI
MDI
13
12
3
10
18
14
37
103
12
36
939
236
18
11
8
11
37
28
40
25
17
19
113
66
Hodgdon Pond
Upper Hadlock Pond
Goose Pond
Fresh Pond
Round Pond (VH)
Meadow Pond
MDI
MDI
Swans Island
North Haven
Vinalhaven
Isleboro
11
10
3
7
4
6
45
38
14
101
8
41
11
14
10
8
12
6
22
37
38
14
20
15
warmwater
coldwater
coldwater
warmwater
no fishery
warmwater
Long Pond (Turners Lake)
Isle au Haut
5
63
23
59
coldwater
1. How do warm- and cold-fishery lakes compare in the numbers of different species found in a
lake? (That is, do warm water lakes tend to have more different kinds of species in them than
coldwater lakes do?)
Data file: DL_LakeFish_Maine_data (2009)
ML3-PRAC_MaineLakesFish.docx 21NOV2013
2. Consider the claim: “Lakes with only cold-water fish tend to be deeper than lakes with only
warm-water fish.” How well is this claim supported by the data in the table (and represented in
the dot plot below)?
3. Using the data in the table, make different dot plot to test the claim “Lakes with only coldwater fish tend to be larger than lakes with only warm-water fish”. Do these data support this
claim?
Extended thinking: Several lakes are labeled as having both warm and cold fisheries.
a. Are these lakes any different from lakes with only warm-water or only cold-water fish?
b. What characteristics of a lake might allow it to support both warm-water species and
cold-water species?
Data file: DL_LakeFish_Maine_data (2009)