Factors affecting local plant knowledge in isolated communities from Patagonian steppe: Metacommunity theory is revealed as a methodological approach

Abstract

The Patagonian steppe is a refuge for several indigenous peoples who live in relatively isolated communities, depending heavily on natural resources for their activities, health, and food security. The local ecological knowledge is a reservoir that generates full wellbeing and for which it must be the object of protection and local development. In this study, we aimed to find which factors can influence local ecological knowledge from a metacommunity on the Patagonian steppe. We analyzed variation in knowledge about cultivated and gathered plants used as medicinal, edible, and firewood according to multiple factors widely discussed in the ethnobiological literature: age, gender, formal education, occupation, indigenous identity, contact with urban centers, use of biomedicine, hunting, and handcrafted textile production. We conducted semi-structured interviews with local experts, accessed by the snowball technique. We found that formal education is a key factor in the variation of local ecological knowledge among people. In addition, we found that knowledge varies between people who practice activities inside and outside the home, concentrating knowledge between cultivated and gathered plants, respectively. Our urbanization proxies did not point to an influence of this factor on local knowledge, but specialists living in a larger community with signs of internal urbanization processes had much less knowledge. Our results allowed us to visualize the importance of studying metacommunities as a whole, to verify complexities and intersections of overlapping factors. Studies in metacommunities open up a range of possibilities for ethnobiological analysis.

Exotic and native species used by traditional populations of the Patagonian steppe: An approach based on redundancy and versatility

“…For example, in Gastre there is a much greater redundancy of plants with analgesic effects, and in Lagunita there is a much greater redundancy of plants used to treat respiratory and circulatory conditions compared to the other two communities. Considering the short distance between the communities and the close bond between them, which make it characterized as a metapopulation (see Santoro et al, 2022), the difference found between the medicinal categories should not be related to epidemiological differences. A hypothesis that we can raise to be investigated in the future is that this difference could reflect possible other treatment strategies that may be preferred over plants specifically for these treatments in some communities, such as the use of biomedicine.…”

“…When analysing edible plants in Patagonia Argentina, Chamorro & Ladio (2020) conclude that native and exotic species superpose at different levels and that the living heritage of Patagonian edible and medicinal plants appears to have undergone hybridization processes, such that exotic cosmopolitan species play an increasingly significant role. This increasingly important role of exotic species is intrinsically linked to the importance of home gardens since a previous study in the same communities showed that 100% of the species cultivated in these communities are exotic and that cultivation is done mostly in home gardens (Santoro et al, 2022). Similar results in terms of the prevalence of medicinal and edible exotic plants in home gardens were found in other rural and urban communities of the region (Eyssartier et al, 2009; Longo Blasón et al, 2022).…”

Especies exóticas y nativas utilizadas por las poblaciones tradicionales de la estepa patagónica: Un enfoque basado en la redundancia y la versatilidad

“…Por ejemplo, en Gastre hay una redundancia mucho mayor de plantas con efectos analgésicos, y en Lagunita hay una redundancia mucho mayor de plantas utilizadas para tratar afecciones respiratorias y circulatorias en comparación con las otras dos comunidades. Considerando la corta distancia entre las comunidades y el estrecho vínculo entre ellas, que hacen que se caracterice como una metapoblación (ver Santoro et al, 2022), la diferencia encontrada entre las categorías medicinales no debería estar relacionada con diferencias epidemiológicas. Una hipótesis que podemos plantear para ser investigada en el futuro es que esta diferencia podría reflejar posibles otras estrategias de tratamiento que pueden ser preferidas sobre las plantas específicas para estos tratamientos en algunas comunidades, como el uso de biomedicina.…”

“…Al analizar las plantas comestibles en la Patagonia Argentina, Chamorro and Ladio (2020) concluyen que las especies nativas y exóticas se superponen en diferentes niveles y que el patrimonio vivo de plantas comestibles y medicinales patagónicas parece haber sufrido procesos de hibridación, de manera que las especies exóticas cosmopolitas juegan un papel cada vez más significativo. Este papel cada vez más importante de las especies exóticas está intrínsecamente ligado a la importancia de los huertos familiares, ya que un estudio previo en las mismas comunidades mostró que el 100% de las especies cultivadas en estas comunidades son exóticas y que el cultivo se realiza mayoritariamente en huertos familiares (Santoro et al, 2022). Resultados similares en cuanto a la prevalencia de plantas exóticas medicinales y comestibles en los huertos familiares fueron encontrados en otras comunidades rurales y urbanas de la región (Eyssartier et al, 2009; Longo Blasón et al, 2022).…”

Understanding old herbal secrets: The renaissance of traditional medicinal plants beyond the twenty classic species?

“…The knowledge on medicinal plants and fungi mixed in magical rituals and customs is mostly preserved in those areas with logistically or financially difficult access to a doctor or veterinarian (Howes et al, 2020). A considerable body of literature covers interesting studies from high mountains (e.g., Tucakov, 1997;Pullaiah et al, 2017;Petelka et al, 2020), from steppe and grassland landscapes (e.g., Molares and Ladio, 2009;Pozdnyakova et al, 2022;Santoro et al, 2022) to from more or less pristine forests (e.g., Uprety et al, 2012;Rodrigues et al, 2021;Kolosova et al, 2022). Old herbal scripts in monasteries showed that herbalists have been always part of the medicinal landscape, even in easily accessible regions before the advent of conventional medicine (Green, 1989;Sabatini, 1994), but were pushed back there more quickly, despite many conventional drugs being developed based on natural remedies (Clément, 2005;Pan et al, 2014).…”