Neochelanops michaelseni (Pseudoscorpiones: Chernetidae) as a potencial bioindicator in managed and unmanaged Nothofagus forests of Tierra del Fuego.

LENCINAS, MV; KREPS, G; SOLER, R; PERI, P; PORTA, A; RAMÍREZ, M; MARTÍNEZ PASTUR, G

JOURNAL OF ARACHNOLOGY

AMER ARACHNOLOGICAL SOC

Lugar: Nueva York; Año: 2015 vol. 43 p. 406 - 412

0161-8202

Bioindicators couldact as early warning indicators of environmental changes, ecosystem stress ortaxonomic diversity. Pseudoscorpions have rarely been used as bioindicators,due to lack of information about their ecology, habitat selection, nichepreferences and requirements, especially in southern Nothofagus forests. Westudied the distribution and abundance of a pseudoscorpion species,Neochelanops michaelseni (Simon 1902), in different vegetation types(Nothofagus antarctica and N. pumilio forests, grasslands and peatlands) andexamined how this species responded to different forest uses (harvesting andsilvopastoral management), to explore its utility as a bioindicator. The studywas conducted on longterm plots located at two ranches in Tierra del Fuego,using pit-fall traps during one summer. Neochelanops michaelseni abundance was higherin Nothofagus forests than in open ecosystems, which could be attributed totheir affinity for litter and coarse woody debris. In N. pumilio forests, thepseudoscorpions were sensitive to harvesting, with similar abundantes inharvested forests (aggregated and dispersed retentions) and grasslands. In N.antarctica forests, differences were not detected among unmanaged andsilvopastoral managed forests, probably due to higher understory plant growth,and lesser diminishing of litter and debris by thinning than by harvesting. Weconclude that the pseudoscorpion, N. michaelseni, can be a good bioindicatorfor ecosystem conservation and for evaluating recovery rate in the ecologicalconditions of impacted Nothofagus forests, and that management practice intensitiesshould be regulated to create more suitable habitats for pseudoscorpion diversity conservation.