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In a Mapuche community situated in the sub-antarctic forest of the northwest of Argentine Patagonia, analysis was carried out on forest environmental perception and its relation to the resilience of the body of traditional botanical knowledge regarding medicinal plants. Data was obtained on the ethno-classification and differential use of the forest gathering environment with respect to its practical and cultural value. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 30 randomly chosen inhabitants, and the data were analysed using qualitative methods and non-parametric statistics. Most citations (64.5%) were of species gathered in Nothofagus antarctica forest, 26.2% were of species from N. pumilio forest, and 20.3% referred to species from a mixed forest, with N. dombeyi. The forests studied have low values for similarity in terms of medicinal species richness, indicating a unique offer of therapeutic resources in each one. The use of the different forest types seems to be associated with the search for therapeutic resources for specific ailments. However, the redundancy of functions of species in each forest type can offer alternative remedies, which provides plant conservation, security and the possibility of reorganisation of their traditional medicinal knowledge. This case study showed the importance of considering folk systems and the role that this knowledge has played in plant resource management and forest protection. Different forests are used and valued differentially, not only with regard to usefulness but also in symbolic-religious terms, and together they fulfil a cushioning function, protecting holistically traditional botanical knowledge, people’s health and forests. It is of great importance, therefore, that conservation policies favouring environmental heterogeneity are implemented, and that local inhabitants participate in the development of management plans.

Conservation strategies of forested landscapes must consider biodiversity of the included site types, i.e. timber-quality forests and associated non-timber-quality stands. The objectives were to characterize forest overstory structure in timber-quality versus associated non-timber-quality stands; and to compare their understory communities. Six forest types were sampled in Nothofagus forests of Tierra del Fuego (Argentina): two timber-quality N. pumilio forests, and four associated non-timber-quality stands (edge, N. antarctica, wetlands and streamside forests). Overstory structure and understory vegetation (species richness, frequencies, cover and biomass) were characterized during spring and summer seasons. Analysis of variance and multivariates were carried out. Overstory structure differed across the site types, with higher tree size, canopy closure and tree volume in timber-quality stands. Fifty-one understory plant species were observed, but understory variables varied with site types, especially wetlands (highest native and exotic richness, cover and biomass, and 25% of exclusive species). Site types were grouped in three: N. antarctica stands, streamside stands and the other N. pumilio forests according to multivariate analysis. Forty three percent of plants were distributed in all site types, and all timber-quality forest understory species were present in some associated non-timber-quality stands. Timber-quality N. pumilio forests have a marginal value for understory conservation compared to associated non-timber-quality stands, because these last include all the plants observed in timber-quality forests and also possess many exclusive species. Therefore, protection of associated non-timber-quality stands during forest management planning could increase understory conservation at landscape level, and these could be better reserves of understory diversity than retentions of timber-quality stands. Fil: Lencinas, María Vanessa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina Fil: Martínez Pastur, Guillermo José. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina Fil: Rivero, Paola. Universidad Nacional del Litoral; Argentina Fil: Busso, Carlos Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; Argentina