Background: Ethiopia is endowed with much plant diversity. The insignificant number of studies on wild edible plants with their ethnobotanical perspectives indicated that this plant diversity comprised only hundreds of wild edible plants used to supplement food sources for the local community under different conditions. There still need to be further investigations throughout the country when compared to the total area and cultural diversity of the country. However, they are seriously under pressure due to different natural and human influences. Therefore, the study was conducted to document underutilized wild edible plants along with their associated indigenous knowledge and explore threats to them in Midakegn District. Methods: A questionnaire survey, semi-structured interviews, a market survey, score ranking, and focused group discussions were employed for data collection. Statistical analysis of ethnobotanical knowledge mean variation between different informant groups was computed by using one-way ANOVA in the IBM SPSS Statics version 24 package. Results: A total of fifty underutilized wild edible plants belonging to 39 genera and 30 families were collected, recorded, and documented. The families Moraceae (four), Fabaceae, Flacourtaceae, Myrtaceae, Rosaceae, and Tiliaceae (each three) represented the highest number of species. It comprised shrubs (44%), trees (36%), herbs (18%), and epiphytes (2%). Fruits (62.3%) were found to be the most frequently used and mostly taken raw, fresh, or dried. These edible resources were consumed to supplement staple foods (67.3%), whereas 25% were used as emergency foods. The majority of species (96%) had multiple uses in addition to their edibility. A significantly higher (P < 0.05) number of underutilized wild edible plants were cited by males than females, by key informants than generals, elders than youngsters, illiterate than literate, and poorer than other wealth class groups of the community. Priority rankings indicate that agricultural expansion, fuel wood harvest, overgrazing, and selective harvesting are the most threatening factors to underutilized wild edible plants. Conclusions: Fifty underutilized wild edible plants, along with their associated indigenous knowledge, were recorded. Local people utilize them for supplementing staple food, as emergency food, to get relief, trust, and chew during drought. But they are mainly threatened by different human activities in the study area.

Highland bamboo (Oldeania alpina formerly Arundinaria alpina or Yushania alpina) is a species of significant conservation value in Afromontane ecosystems across Africa. It also plays a significant role in the livelihoods of local communities. However, global climate change is anticipated to alter its ecological niche, leading to range shifts and possible habitat contractions. This study aimed to identify potentially suitable habitats for highland bamboo in Ethiopia, determine the resilience of the species under climate change, and establish the environmental factors affecting its habitat. Species distribution modeling (SDM) was implemented in the SDM R package using 231 georeferenced presence records together with climate, topographic, and soil data. To assess climate change risks to the species, predictive models were developed assuming climate scenarios for 2061–2080 under two shared socio-economic pathways (SSPs), namely, SSP2-45 and SSP5-85. The results indicated that highland bamboo mainly grows in high elevation areas with altitudes of 2100–3100 m asl with mean annual temperatures of 11.5–19.3 °C, annual precipitation of 873–1962 mm, precipitation of the driest quarter of 36–147 mm, soil pH of 5.6, and soil CEC of 30.7 cmolc/kg. The current potentially suitable habitat for this species in Ethiopia was estimated at 61,831.58 km², with the majority of habitats being in the southern and southwestern parts of the country. Our models predicted that the suitable habitat will shrink by 13.4% under the SSP5-85 scenario, while potential new suitable areas for this species were identified under the SSP2-45 scenario. Future vulnerable areas were mostly found in central Ethiopia. Based on the predictions, we conclude that most of the suitable habitats for highland bamboo will remain suitable between the years 2061 and 2080.

Traditional management regimes and knowledge systems of forest resources have shaped forests throughout the world where materials from individual species are harvested in a sustainable manner. To comprehend this, the vegetation of Hugumburda-Gratkhassu Forest was described and related to anthropogenic factors. Three ethnobotanical research methods were used to collect indigenous knowledge of the local inhabitants related to conservation and utilization of forest resources. Direct matrix ranking was conducted to discover local attitudes on species preference for multiple use. During this work, the 46 most important tree and shrub species were selected based on recommendations of local guides and key informants to determine the range of uses obtained from each species. Through paired comparison, activities supposed to be the major cause of degradation of the forest were adopted. Pairs of activities were then established from the relation n (n-1)/2. Each respondent was then asked to select an activity that he considered being a major problem to management of the forest. Semi-structured interviews were used to obtain information from sixty local informants to address community attitudes towards forest management and utilization. The result obtained from direct matrix ranking showed; that 20 out of 46 plant species compared had the highest scores and rank, indicating that these species are the most important and are exploited by the local communities for multiple purposes. The paired comparison exercise revealed logging for construction materials to be the major threat to the forest due to cutting of large volume of wood for construction of churches, health centers, schools and new houses. Juniperus procera, Olea europaea ssp. cuspidata, Rhus glutinosa, Ficus sur, Hagenia abyssinica, Cassipourea malosana and Acacia etbaica were the most selected and exploited plant species for these purposes. Survival of protected areas depends on the support of local communities, rather than on fences, fines, or even force. The local communities in the study area have a rich indigenous ecological knowledge to suggest appropriate solutions for improvement of the forest resources. Thus the old tradition of isolating forests from the community has to be avoided and the basic needs and traditional rights of the communities over the uses of forest resources should be recognized.

Distantly related lineages of the enigmatic giant rosette plants of tropical alpine environments provide classical examples of convergent adaptation. For the giant senecios (Dendrosenecio), the endemic landmarks of the East African sky islands, it has also been suggested that parallel adaptation has been important for within-lineage differentiation. To test this hypothesis and to address potential gene flow and hybridization among the isolated sky islands, we organized field expeditions to all major mountains. We sampled all currently accepted species and all but one subspecies and genotyped 460 plants representing 109 populations. We tested whether genetic structuring corresponds to geography, as predicted by a parallel adaptation hypothesis, or to altitudinal belt and habitat rather than mountains, as predicted by a hypothesis of a single origin of adaptations. Bayesian and Neighbor-Net analyses showed that the main genetic structure is shallow and largely corresponds to geography, supporting a hypothesis of recent, rapid radiation via parallel altitude/habitat adaptation on different mountains. We also found evidence for intermountain admixture, suggesting several long-distance dispersals by wind across vast areas of unsuitable habitat. The combination of parallel adaptation, secondary contact, and hybridization may explain the complex patterns of morphological variation and the contradicting taxonomic treatments of these rare enigmatic giants, supporting the use of wide taxonomic concepts. Notably, the within-population genetic diversity was very low and calls for increased conservation efforts.

Ethiopia aims to restore 15 million ha degraded forests and woodlands, but effects on the potentially contrasting goals of long-term carbon storage, biodiversity and sustainable livelihoods are unknown. To quantify the effects of grazing exclusion on vegetation and fire behaviour, we established six 30 × 30 m fenced exclosures with grazed controls, in a mesic wooded savanna. Experimental burns were done after 1.5 years. Tree seedlings were few but more common inside fences. Field layer cover and biomass increased inside fences, and grass species increased in numbers and cover. Fire intensity was higher inside fences, killing shrubs and saplings but not mature trees. Interviews confirmed that overgrazing has resulted in “cool fires”, causing shrub encroachment. High-intensity fires occurred in the 1980s after a zoonotic disease killed most livestock. Short-term increase in carbon storage through fire and grazing exclusion may lead to loss of pasture, and in the long-term increased wildfire risk.