Along many decades, protected environments were targeted by the scientific community for ecological research and for the collection of scientific information related to environmental aspects and biodiversity. However, most of the territory in hotspot regions with weak or even non legal protection has been left aside. These non-protected areas (NPA) could host high biodiversity values. This paper addresses how scientific effort on a NPA (CIAR) of 700 ha from the Atlantic Rain Forest, generates new information and tools for large-scale environmental and biodiversity management in NPAs. Information published during the last decade was summarized and complemented with subsequent novel data about biodiversity (new species, first records, DNA and chemical analyses, etc.). The results showed: 1 new genus (arachnid), 6 new species and several putative new species (fish and arthropod), 6 vulnerable species (bird and mammal) and 36 first records for Argentina (fish, arthropod, platyhelminth and fungi). When compared with protected natural areas of the same biome, the CIAR showed highly valuable aspects for fauna and environment conservation, positioning this NPA as a worldwide hotspot for some taxa. Indeed, when compared to international hotspots in a coordinated Malaise trap program, the CIAR showed 8,651 different barcode index numbers (~species) of arthropods, 80% of which had not been previously barcoded. Molecules like Inoscavin A, with antifungal activity against phytopathogens, was isolated for the first time in Phellinus merrillii fungi. The study of major threats derived from anthropic activities measured 20 trace elements, 18 pesticides (i.e. endosulfans, chlorpyrifos, DDTs, HCHs) and 27 pharmaceuticals and drugs (i.e. benzoylecgonine and norfluoxetine) in different biotic and abiotic matrices (water, sediment, fish and air biomonitors). This integrated data analysis shows that biodiversity research in NPA is being undervalued and how multidisciplinary and multitaxa surveys creates a new arena for research and a pathway towards sustainable development in emerging countries with biodiversity hotspots.

Bioindicators could act as early warning indicators of environmental changes, ecosystem stress or taxonomic diversity. Pseudoscorpions have rarely been used as bioindicators, due to lack of information about their ecology, habitat selection, niche preferences and requirements, especially in southern Nothofagus forests. We studied 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) and examined how this species responded to different forest uses (harvesting and silvopastoral management), to explore its utility as a bioindicator. The study was conducted on longterm plots located at two ranches in Tierra del Fuego, using pit-fall traps during one summer. Neochelanops michaelseni abundance was higher in Nothofagus forests than in open ecosystems, which could be attributed to their affinity for litter and coarse woody debris. In N. pumilio forests, the pseudoscorpions were sensitive to harvesting, with similar abundances in harvested forests (aggregated and dispersed retentions) and grasslands. In N. antarctica forests, differences were not detected among unmanaged and silvopastoral managed forests, probably due to higher understory plant growth, and lesser diminishing of litter and debris by thinning than by harvesting. We conclude that the pseudoscorpion, N. michaelseni, can be a good bioindicator for ecosystem conservation and for evaluating recovery rate in the ecological conditions of impacted Nothofagus forests, and that management practice intensities should be regulated to create more suitable habitats for pseudoscorpion diversity conservation.

Procaeculus coineaui sp. nov. from Cretaceous Burmese amber is described and its phylogenetic position discussed. This fossil taxon is the first caeculid mite known from Burmese amber and constitutes the earliest record of the family. The genus Procaeculus is redefined to include the new fossil species and internal relationships between genera of the family are discussed based on a phylogenetic hypothesis.

Seventy-two named species of Pseudoscorpiones, representing 14 families, are recorded from Argentina, of which Chernetidae (40 species) and Withiidae (11 species) are the most diverse. Three species are new country records: Parachernes melanopygus, P. plumosus and P. peruanus. The provincial distributions and habitat preferences of the species are given and discussed. Synonymies, old combinations and misidentifications (only those concerning Argentina), original localities, number of specimens, instars and repositories are given (when known), along with new provincial records, localities and habitats, and a key to the families, genera and species known from Argentina.

The mite Macrocheles subbadius (Berlese) (Acari: Macrochelidae) is recorded for the first time in Argentina, associated to the cactophilic fly Drosophila koepferae Fontdevila & Wasserman (Diptera: Drosophilidae) from San Agustín de Valle Fértil, province of San Juan

Procheiridium judsoni n. gen. et n. sp. is described from Burmese cretaceous amber. This species represents the earliest record of the pseudoscorpion subfamily Pycnocheiridiinae and the first fossil taxon of the subfamily to be recorded. The phylogenetic position of the new genus in the superfamily Cheiridioidea is discussed.

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A protonymph of the snout mite genus Odontoscirus Thor, 1913, O. cretacico sp. nov., is described and illustrated from Cretaceous amber of Myanmar is described and illustrated, constituting the earliest fossil species described of the family Bdellidae (ca. 99 Ma). After reexamining the literature and recollected specimens from type localities, we conclude that the following five recent species do not belong to the genus Biscirus and should be transferred to Odontoscirus: O. anomalicornis (Berlese 1916) comb. nov., O. symmetricus (Kramer 1898) comb. nov., O. uncinatus (Kramer 1898) comb. nov., O. norvegicus (Thor 1905) comb. nov., and O. insularis (Willmann 1939) comb. nov. The implications of the fossil record of the family is discussed.