Abstract
Integrated social-ecological research is crucial for the development and assessment of sustainable agricultural production that supports health and well-being for producers, rural communities, and agroecosystems. One challenge for integration is that commonly used concepts like ecosystem services do not represent all environmental processes that support or degrade health and well-being. Social change processes also impact health and well-being. Here we focus on a core, and often underrepresented example—communal processes. Communal processes include social interactions for a common interest or purpose, or for deliberation and decision-making about a shared locality. Many (but not all) communal processes foster relationships that strengthen a community's capacity for collective action while helping individuals and families cope with environmental stressors. Research on communal processes of health and well-being complements research on ecosystem services and agricultural production to better represent social-ecological interdependencies and strengthen interdisciplinary approaches to rangelands research.