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Plant species tend to shift their geographical ranges in response to climate change. The extent to which they are sensitive to the change is less understood in the tropics. Here, we predicted the current and future distribution of Syzygium afromontanum, a highly prioritized plant that contributes nutritious and edible fruits but has a narrow ecological range in Ethiopia. The MaxEnt algorithm method was used to predict potential suitable habitats for the species in the long run. Twenty-two environmental variables were downloaded from the WorldClim database, and 47 spatially rarefied occurrence points were used. The current and two climate change scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5) for 2050 and 2070 were used. Model evaluation by AUC value ranges from 0.914–0.931 under all scenarios, placing the models in the excellent category. The jackknife evaluation of the 25 random test percentage entry for model calibration showed that solar radiation, and precipitation in the coldest, and driest quarters are significant predictors of the distribution model. Compared to the current, the potential distribution area of the species would be reduced by 3.21% and 3.32% under RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 of 2050 and by 2.77% and 2.86% under RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 of 2070, respectively. The consequence of this situation will have a long-term effect on the conservation of the species and the indigenous knowledge associated with the species. Thus, modeling plays an essential role in designing and implementing conservation policies to conserve species that have narrow ecological ranges besides being highly prioritized and socio-economically valuable plants.

Epiphytes colonize canopy trees, provide substantial ecosystem services in production and nutrient cycling, contribute as energy sources, shelter and breeding sites for pollinating birds, bats and ants. Despite this, information on their diversity is patchy. Therefore, this study was investigated vascular epiphytes diversity in Kafa biosphere reserve and nearby coffee agroecosystem. Seventy-two matured trees were systematically selected and assessed for standardized, rapid and representative assessment of vascular epiphytes. 10 × 10 m plots were established at each selected tree understory and each tree was climbed using single rope technique. Characteristics of the phorophytes such as tree height, diameter at breast height, bark rugosity, tree vertical zones and crown architecture were measured. Statistical analyses mainly generalized linear mixed model, canonical analysis and Principal component analysis in R program were used for data analysis. A total of 63 species belonging to 24 genera and 13 families were recorded. Orchidaceae was the dominant family followed by Piperaceae, Polypodiaceae and Lycopodiaceae in terms of species richness and frequency, whereas families such as Adiantaceae, Oleandraceae and Vittariaceae were poorly represented. Species richness and frequency of Vascular epiphytes were significantly lower (P = 0.003) on remnant trees as compared with forest trees. We postulate that changes in microclimate resulting from habitat fragmentation can cause significant reduction in these canopy dwelling and structurally dependent organisms. Conservation of forests with large but slow growing old trees was crucial to maintain habitat specialist vascular epiphytes.

•Agroforestry systems have different impacts on woody species richness.•Different land use practices significantly affect woody species diversity.•Woody species density was significantly affected by land use type and farmer’s economic status.

The processes of habitat changes on the time continuum and their impacts on biodiversity were less understood in Afrotropical contexts. For instance, the temporal patterns of habitat conversions and the conservation implications were not well addressed. To fill this gap, we investigated the process of conversions among land use types for the period of 1973–2018 in agroecosystem of west Ethiopia. Here, we analyzed the area gains and losses as proxy measures of temporal ‘natural’ habitat changes. Accordingly, the satellite images with four resolutions were used to detect the cropland, forestland, grazing land, shrub land, bare land, and built-up land use types. Next, we analyzed the habitat dynamics by using the extents of area gains and losses and the annual rate of changes. Our results showed that the ‘natural’ habitats have been significantly decreasing due to the expansion of cropland over the past 45 years. As a result, the annual rates of change are higher for natural habitats (e.g., forest and grazing areas) when compared with that of crop land. The area gains were higher for cropland when compared with other land use types, despite the extents temporally varied. Whereas, the extents of area gains to ‘natural’ habitats (e.g., forest) from cropland, grazing land, and shrub land were much lower. Our overall results suggest that not only the habitat changes per se, but also the processes, extents, and rates of conversions need to be taken into account for effective land use planning and biodiversity conservation in tropical agroecosystems.

The phylogenetic relationship of Dianthoseris is reconstructed with Maximum Parsimony and Bayesian Inference based on both nrDNA ITS and cpDNA matK datasets. The analyses revealed that the East African afro-alpine D. schimperi is deeply nested within Crepis s.str., forming a clade with the more widespread afro-alpine C. newii. This clade is sister-group to a clade of species centred in NW Africa/SE Spain, viz. C. hookeriana, C. albida, C. tingitana and C. oporinoides, and beyond in the Mediterranean and S Europe, viz. C. vesicaria and C. alpestris. An emended, illustrated description of D. schimperi, for the first time considering mature achenes, is given, its delimitation from the afro-alpine Ethiopian local endemic Nannoseris inopinata is re-evaluated, its morphological and karyological affinities within Crepis are discussed and its distribution is mapped. Two new nomenclatural combinations in Crepis, C. dianthoseris for D. schimperi and C. inopinata for N. inopinata, are validated.

The floral gross morphological and anatomical character states of 23 African Swertia species are described. Colleters are frequent in Swertia, especially at the lower rim of calyx lobes and are usually placed in a single row except in S. crassiuscula (they are not “typical” colleters). The aestivation of corolla lobes is found to be uniform except in S. engleri var. engieri. Each corolla lobe is beset with either one or two foveae. Foveae are naked or either partly or wholly fimbriated along their margins. No vascular tissue was observed entering the foveae. The taxonomic importance of the the floral character states is discussed.