Management practices, uses and valoration of taxa of Cactaceae in northwestern Córdoba, Argentina

Abstract

In the northwest of Córdoba, taxa of Cactaceae represent an important resource that contributes to the subsistence and daily life of local people, being winter particularly hard for people’s life and animal production, and it is almost impossible to grow rain-fed crops all year round. The aim of this work was to recover and systematize local botanical knowledge, emphasizing the diversity of cactus taxa used, associated management practices, and valorization of these plants by residents of the study area. Here we report a list of 13 native and naturalized taxa, with their vernacular names and their uses. We recorded 12 types of uses and six management practices. Finally, we found that locals valued cacti as important or very important for their usefulness as a subsistence resource (forage and food) and for their ornamental value (aesthetic and economic). Therefore, the botanical knowledge of some people on these taxa represents useful future information for the entire population and for persons dealing with management and conservation plans of arid environments.