Bridging Local Ecological Knowledge and Pastoral Agroecosystems: A Conceptual Framework from North-Central Patagonia

Abstract In arid Patagonia, Argentina (central plateau of Chubut), family subsistence farming depends almost exclusively on native vegetation and Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK). This work proposes the Pastoral Agroecosystem Framework (PAF), a new conceptual framework based on empirical evidence that explains the contribution of LEK to the functioning of pastoral systems, offering analytical tools for other pastoral systems in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Through ethnobiological methodology based on 20 semi-structured interviews with rural herders, 72 forage plant species belonging to 27 botanical families were recorded, of which 87.5% are native. The valuation of species depends on the roles attributed to them within the pastoral system: milk production, sustaining animals during critical periods, differential use of environments, and resource availability throughout the year. Key functional components were also identified: strategic environments such as wetlands (mallines), species used during scarcity events, and adaptive management practices linked to forage resource dynamics. The results reveal LEK as a higher-order operational component that, through adaptive management decisions, identifies, regulates, and articulates its functional components, thereby operating the pastoral system and promoting emergent properties such as productivity, stability, and resilience. The proposed PAF allows us to understand that the joint care of native biodiversity, wetlands, and local knowledge constitutes a fundamental pillar for the resilience of these socio-ecosystems in the face of desertification, climate change, and other transformations.