The book provides a comprehensive account of a tropical lake, Alchichica, considering that tropical limnology is by far less known and well-understood than temperate. Many of the well-known temperate limnology paradigms do not apply in tropical limnology, such as the 1ºC/m thermocline concept, or the role of phosphorous as a limiting nutrient. Lake Alchichica is - most likely - the best limnologically known Mexican lake up to date. Twenty years of continuous monitoring has led us to understand this deep, warm monomictic lake. The peculiar chemical composition of this saline lake - sodium-alkaline with a high concentration in magnesium waters, and groundwater-fed - led to the formation of its unique stromatolite ring that has become world-famous, studied by scientists from various countries. From a biological point of view, this relatively small maar lake displays a comparatively low species richness but surprisingly is plentiful in microendemic species for a recently-formed lake (13,000-6,300 years old, at the Late Pleistocene/Holocene Epoch), eleven of which already described, with more to come. Researchers and students interested in tropical limnology, extreme ecosystems, evolutionary biology, astrobiology, and microbiology will find this book a must-read.

Chapter 1 Lake Alchichica: History of Human Settlements

Chapter 2 Geological Evolution of the Alchichica Crater
Chapter 3 Paleoenvironmental Change in Central Mexico During the Last 20,000 Years
Chapter 4 Recent Climate of Serdán-Oriental Basin
Chapter 5 Hydrogeology and Hydrochemistry of the Serdán-Oriental Basin and the Lake Alchichica
Chapter 6 Meteorological Regime, Local Climate, and Hydrodynamics of Lake Alchichica
Chapter 7 Physicochemical Characteristics
Chapter 8 The Littoral Environment
Chapter 9 Aquatic Vegetation
Chapter 10  The Littoral Community
Chapter 11 Bacterioplankton
Chapter 12.- Phytoplankton of Alchichica: A Unique Community for an Oligotrophic Lake
Chapter 13 Protozooplankton
Chapter 14 Metazooplankton: The Joys and Challenges of Living in a Saline, Oligotrophic, Warm Monomictic Lake
Chapter 15 Alchichica Silverside.- Chapter 16
The Axolotl of Alchichica
Chapter 17 The Deep Benthic Zone. - Chapter 18 Lake Metabolism. - Chapter 19 Lake Food Webs
Chapter 20 Diversity and Endemisms
Chapter 21 Conservation Actions
Chapter 22 Microbialites: Diversity Hotspots in the Mexican Plateau
Chapter 23 The Lake Alchichica from an Astrobiological Perspective
Chapter 24 Lake Alchichica Traditions, Myths, and Legends: Interviews with Local Residents.