* * Note: Draft page -- still a work in progress * *
Maine is a state of the United States in the
North Temperate climate
zone. It shape is very roughly a parallelogram extending northward
over 300 miles ( Km) or about 4-1/2° of latitude, and spanning about 4°
degrees of longitude in its approximately 200 mile ( km) east-west
breadth. Its land varies in elevation from sea level at the
Gulf of Maine, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean to 5268 feet (1,597 M.) at the summit of
Mount Katahdin.
Annual precipitation averages 36.6 inches (93.0 cm) for
Caribou in the North, and 43.4 inches (110.2 cm) for Portland, in the
south. The average January temperature for those cities is 10.6° F.
( ° C.) and 21.5° F. ( ° C.) respectively. The
average July temperature for those cities is 65.2° F. ( ° C.) and
68.1 ° F. ( ° C.) respectively. These climate factors qualify the state
as being at the border of the humid temperate mesothermal and microthermal climate
zones. Consequently Maine is at the Northern edge of the
mixed deciduous/conifer forest zone and at the southern edge of the boreal (predominantly needleleaf species)
forest zone.
The land area is 30,862 square miles (19,751,680
acres), and the inland
water bodies total 4,523 square miles ( sq. km.) Its irregular,
highly indented seacoast would extend 3,478 miles (5,773 km) if it were to be stretched
out as a single line, or 228 miles ( km.) if its general outline is followed from
the extreme points, Kittery to Eastport.
Its location on the North American continent, its topography
and climate have led to animals
and plants. The chart below represents an attempt to quantify some species
of flora and fauna in Maine. The density figures are based on an
assumption of approximately even spatial distribution, and so may be
misleadingly low for species that are confined to a small region.
| Common Name | Scientific Name | Estimated population |
Data Year |
Density | Source | Contri- butor |
|
|
per sq. mi. (sq km.) |
per acre (hectare) |
||||||
|
Fauna |
|||||||
| Human beings | Homo sapiens | 1,250,000 |
2000 |
40.5 |
0.063 |
1 |
F.W. |
| White-tailed deer | Odocoileus virginiana | 255,000 |
1997 |
8.1 |
0.013 |
2 |
F.W. |
| Black bear | Ursus americanus | 22,000 |
1997 |
0.71 |
0.0011 | 2 | F.W. |
| Redback salamander | Plethodon cinereus | 80,000,000 |
1975 |
130,000 |
4000 | 3 | F.W. |
| Snapping turtle | Chelydra serpentina | 680,000* | 1950 | 150* | 0.24* | 3 | F.W. |
| Moose | Alces alces | 29,000 | 2003 | 0.94 | 0.0015 | 4 | F.W. |
|
Flora |
|||||||
Notes:
* Figures for inland water bodies only. Actual distribution diminishes
with latitude, and will be much lower in the North.
Sources:
1. U.S. Census
Bureau, 2000 Census of Population and
Housing. Summary Population and Housing Characteristics,
PHC-1-21, Maine (Washington, DC: The Bureau,. 2003)
2. Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Wildlife Division. Research & Management Report, (Augusts, Me., The
Department, 1998)
3. Hunter, Malcolm L. Jr., John Albright, Jane Arbuckle,
eds. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Maine (Orono, Me.: Maine
Agricultural Experiment Station, July, 1992) (MAES Bulletin 838)
4. "2585 -- the few chosen for '03 moose hunt"
Bangor Daily News June 11, 2003. (Citing moose population figures from
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife)
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revised 08/07/06