Publications by authors named "Javier Alcocer"

River hydrology shapes the sources, concentration, and stoichiometry of organic matter within drainage basins. However, our understanding of how the microbes process dissolved organic matter (DOM) and recycle nutrients in tropical rivers needs to be improved. This study explores the relationships between elemental DOM composition (carbon/nitrogen/phosphorus: C/N/P), C and N uptake, and C mineralization by autochthonous bacterioplankton in the Usumacinta River, one of the most important fluvial systems in Mexico.

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High-mountain lakes (HMLs) are remote, extreme, and sensitive ecosystems recognized as sentinels of global change. Lakes El Sol and La Luna are very close to each other inside the crater of the Nevado de Toluca volcano, but they differ morphometrically and limnologically. This study aimed to identify the seasonal fluctuation of the phytoplankton communities of these two tropical HMLs.

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Inland waters are crucial in the carbon cycle, contributing significantly to the global CO fluxes. Carbonate lakes may act as both sources and sinks of CO depending on the interactions between the amount of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) inputs, lake metabolisms, and geochemical processes. It is often difficult to distinguish the dominant mechanisms driving CO dynamics and their effects on CO emissions.

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The island species-area relationship (ISAR) describes how species richness increases with increasing area of a given island or island-like habitat, such as freshwater lakes. While the ISAR is one of the most common phenomena observed in ecology, there is variation in both the form of the relationship and its underlying mechanisms. We compiled a global data set of benthic macroinvertebrates from 524 shallow freshwater lakes, ranging from 1 to 293,300 ha in area.

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High mountain lakes (HMLs) are considered unique and comparable ecosystems for monitoring global climate change. The food web structure can indicate the response of these ecosystems to ecological threats, such as fish introduction, by analyzing the trophic dynamics. Nonetheless, the food webs of tropical HMLs are less well-studied than temperate HMLs.

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Eutrophication is a global problem causing the reduction of water quality and the loss of ecosystem goods and services. The lakes of the "Lagunas de Montebello" National Park (LMNP), Chiapas, Mexico, not only represent unique and beautiful natural scenic sites in southern Mexico but are also a national protected area and RAMSAR site. Unfortunately, some of these lakes started showing eutrophication signs since 2003.

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High mountain lakes and their catchments are remote ecosystems in areas with low anthropogenic disturbance. High mountain lakes integrate changes in the atmosphere and catchment areas (e.g.

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Using long-term time series of meteorological and water-column parameters, the dynamics of two lakes separated by about 500 m from each other by a central lava dome, located at 4207 m above sea level in the volcano crater of Nevado de Toluca, Mexico were explored. Because of the strong wind-forcing previously measured on the volcano slope and the proximity of the lakes, wind-mixing was expected, with similar dynamics in both lakes. However, the meteorological parameters in the crater were significantly different than on the slope of the volcano, due to the dome and the high walls of the crater, which weakened wind speeds, modified wind direction, and reduced exposure to solar radiation by almost 20% in the crater compared to on the volcano slope.

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Morphological analysis of all developmental stages (except female), mitochondrial DNA sequences from cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1) and cytological analysis of the polytene chromosomes were used to describe a new species of Chironomus found in the littoral and profundal zones of an endorheic, warm-monomictic lake in Mexico. Male imago is distinguished by the shape of superior volsella and by an antennal and bristle ratio lower than two. The pupa is characterized by the spur morphology of abdominal segment VIII.

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The diversity of chondrychthyans in Mexico is described. The fauna is composed by 214 species (111 sharks, 95 rays and 8 chimaeras) and represents 17.3 % of the total number of species recorded worldwide.

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Microbes can modulate ecosystem function since they harbor a vast genetic potential for biogeochemical cycling. The spatial and temporal dynamics of this genetic diversity should be acknowledged to establish a link between ecosystem function and community structure. In this study, we analyzed the genetic diversity of bacterial phosphorus utilization genes in two microbial assemblages, microbialites and bacterioplankton of Lake Alchichica, a semiclosed (i.

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Dissolved organic phosphorus utilization by different members of natural communities has been closely linked to microbial alkaline phosphatases whose affiliation and diversity is largely unknown. Here we assessed genetic diversity of bacterial alkaline phosphatases phoX and phoD, using highly diverse microbial consortia (microbialites and bacterioplankton) as study models. These microbial consortia are found in an oligo-mesotrophic soda lake with a particular geochemistry, exhibiting a low calcium concentration and a high Mg : Ca ratio relative to seawater.

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Background: Cyclotella choctawhatcheeana Prasad 1990 is a small centric diatom found in the plankton of water bodies with a wide range of salt concentrations. This paper describes the morphological features of the valve of C. choctawhatcheeana, from Alchichica lake, a hyposaline lake located in Central Mexico, and provides information about their ecology with respect to water chemistry and distribution in the water column along the annual cycle.

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