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)