Centro de Investigaciones Cientifícas de las Huastecas 'Aguazarca'
Encyclopedia
Centro de Investigaciones Científicas de las Huastecas 'Aguazarca' (CICHAZ) is a research station
in Calnali
, Hidalgo, Mexico
located at an elevation of 986 m on the eastern slope of the Sierra Madre Oriental
. Founded in 2005, CICHAZ is privately owned and a member of the Organization of Biological Field Stations
. CICHAZ has hosted researchers from Texas A&M University
, Yale University
, UNAM
, UAEH, CIBNOR, the University of Oklahoma
, the University of Texas at Austin
, Harvard University
, the University of Zurich
and the University of Navarra. Social-science
research focuses on local government
and local and national educational policy
. Natural science
work involves the ecology
of freshwater
systems in the local Veracruz moist forests
, and the evolutionary biology of hybrid zone
s between the poeciliid
fish Xiphophorus
birchmanni and X. malinche.
Research station
A research station is a station built for the purpose of conducting scientific research. Research station sites might include outer space and oceans. Many nations have research stations in Antarctica; Showa Station, Halley and Troll are examples...
in Calnali
Calnali
Calnali is a town and one of the 84 municipalities of Hidalgo, in central-eastern Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 190.2 km². Calnali is a Nahuatl name meaning house on the other side of the river...
, Hidalgo, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
located at an elevation of 986 m on the eastern slope of the Sierra Madre Oriental
Sierra Madre Oriental
The Sierra Madre Oriental is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico.-Setting:Spanning the Sierra Madre Oriental runs from Coahuila south through Nuevo León, southwest Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, and Hidalgo to northern Puebla, where it joins with the east-west running Eje Volcánico...
. Founded in 2005, CICHAZ is privately owned and a member of the Organization of Biological Field Stations
Organization of Biological Field Stations
The Organization of Biological Field Stations is a nonprofit multinational organization representing the field stations and research centers across Canada, United States, and Central America. While it has no administrative or management control over its member stations, it helps to improve their...
. CICHAZ has hosted researchers from Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
, Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, UNAM
Unam
UNAM or UNaM may refer to:* National University of Misiones, a National University in Posadas, Argentina*National Autonomous University of Mexico , the large public autonomous university based in Mexico City...
, UAEH, CIBNOR, the University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
, the University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
, Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, the University of Zurich
University of Zurich
The University of Zurich , located in the city of Zurich, is the largest university in Switzerland, with over 25,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of theology, law, medicine and a new faculty of philosophy....
and the University of Navarra. Social-science
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
research focuses on local government
Municipalities of Mexico
Municipalities are the second-level administrative division in Mexico . There are 2,438 municipalities in Mexico, making the average municipality population 45,616...
and local and national educational policy
Education in Mexico
Education in Mexico is regulated by the Secretariat of Public Education . Education standards are set by this Ministry at all levels except in "autonomous" universities chartered by the government...
. Natural science
Natural science
The natural sciences are branches of science that seek to elucidate the rules that govern the natural world by using empirical and scientific methods...
work involves the ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
of freshwater
Freshwater
Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...
systems in the local Veracruz moist forests
Veracruz moist forests
The Veracruz moist forests are an ecoregion, in the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest biome, in eastern Mexico.-Setting:The Veracruz moist forests cover an area of , occupying a portion of Mexico's Gulf Coastal Plain between the Sierra Madre Oriental and the Gulf of Mexico...
, and the evolutionary biology of hybrid zone
Hybrid zone
A hybrid zone exists where the ranges of two interbreeding species meet. For a hybrid zone to be stable, the offspring produced by the cross have to be less fit than members of the parent species, although this condition does not need to be met in the very first hybrid generation...
s between the poeciliid
Poeciliidae
Poeciliidae is a family of fresh-water fish which are live-bearing aquarium fish . They belong to the order Cyprinodontiformes, tooth-carps, and include well-known aquarium fish such as the guppy, molly, platy, and swordtail...
fish Xiphophorus
Xiphophorus
Xiphophorus is a genus of euryhaline and freshwater fishes in the family Poeciliidae of order Cyprinodontiformes. The many Xiphophorus species are all called either platyfish or swordtails. The type species is X. hellerii, the Green swordtail. Platyfish and swordtails are Live-bearers, meaning...
birchmanni and X. malinche.