The Old World species of the genus Pouzolzia have been revised and 24 species and 13 infraspecific taxa recognised. Worldwide, the genus now totals 36 species and 17 infraspecific taxa. Pouzolzia sect. Memorialis Bennett & Brown (including the genera Gonostegia Turcz. and Hyrtanandra Miq.) is maintained here as a section of Pouzolzia. The characters used to separate Pouzolzia from Boehmeria are found to work worldwide. In the Old World, the genus ranges, west to east, from Senegal to Japan and the Solomon Islands, and, north to south, from China, the Himalayas and Yemen to South Africa, Madagascar, Australia and the Lord Howe, Norfolk and Kermadec Is. Some species are common and occur almost throughout tropical Indomalesia or are widespread in Africa; others are rare and with a narrow range, for example restricted to one or a few oceanic islands. Each of the taxa occurring in the Old World is described and illustrated, habitats and geographical ranges are indicated, conservation status is discussed on the basis of our impression of old and new collecting activity, and distributions are mapped. The following new taxa are described: P. tsaratananensis Friis & Wilmot Dear from Madagascar, P. herpetophyton Friis & Wilmot‐Dear from the Comoro Is., and P. zeylanica subsp. calcicola Friis & Wilmot‐Dear and P. thailandica Friis & Wilmot‐Dear, both from southern Thailand. A new name, P. variifolia Friis & Wilmot‐Dear, is proposed for P. heterophylla (Blume) Wedd., nom. illeg. The following new combinations are published here: P. australis (Endl.) Friis & Wilmot‐Dear, P. sanguinea (Blume) Merr. var. formosana (Li) Friis & Wilmot‐Dear, P. sanguinea (Blume) Merrill var. cinerascens (Blume) Friis & Wilmot‐Dear, P. mixta Solms var. shirensis (Rendle) Friis & Wilmot‐Dear, P. hirta (Blume) Hasskarl var. parvifolia (Wight) Friis & Wilmot‐Dear, P. pentandra (Roxb.) Benn. & R. Br. subsp. wightii (Benn. & R. Br.) Friis & Wilmot‐Dear. and subsp. wightii (Benn. & R. Br.) Friis & Wilmot‐Dear var. gracilis (Miq.) Friis & Wilmot‐Dear. The following taxa are reduced to synonymy for the first time: Pouzolzia argenteonitida W.‐T. Wang, P. bracteosa Friis, P. calophylla W.‐T. Wang & C.‐J. Chen, P. guineensis Benth. var. seyrigii Leandri, P. guineensis Benth. var. madagascariensis Wedd., P. baronii Leandri, and P. auriculata Wight.

In the central and northern highlands of Ethiopia, native forest and forest biodiversity is almost confined to sacred groves associated with churches. Local communities rely on these 'church forests' for essential ecosystem services including shade and fresh water but little is known about their region-wide distribution and conservation value. We (1) performed the first large-scale spatially-explicit assessment of church forests, combining remote-sensing and field data, to assess the number of forests, their size, shape, isolation and woody plant species composition, (2) determined their plant communities and related these to environmental variables and potential natural vegetation, (3) identified the main challenges to biodiversity conservation in view of plant population dynamics and anthropogenic disturbances, and (4) present guidelines for management and policy. The 394 forests identified in satellite images were on average ~2 ha in size and generally separated by ~2 km from the nearest neighboring forest. Shape complexity, not size, decreased from the northern to the central highlands. Overall, 148 indigenous tree, shrub and liana species were recorded across the 78 surveyed forests. Patch α-diversity increased with mean annual precipitation, but typically only 25 woody species occurred per patch. The combined results showed that >50% of tree species present in tropical northeast Africa were still present in the 78 studied church forests, even though individual forests were small and relatively species-poor. Tree species composition of church forests varied with elevation and precipitation, and resembled the potential natural vegetation. With a wide distribution over the landscape, these church forests have high conservation value. However, long-term conservation of biodiversity of individual patches and evolutionary potential of species may be threatened by isolation, small sizes of tree species populations and disturbance, especially when considering climate change. Forest management interventions are essential and should be supported by environmental education and other forms of public engagement.

Question: How does the floristic diversity of Afromontane rainforests change along an altitudinal gradient? What are the implications for conservation planning in these strongly fragmented forest areas that form part of the Eastern Afromontane Biodiversity Hotspot? Location: Bonga, southwestern Ethiopia. Methods: Based on evidence from other montane forests, we hypothesized that altitude has an effect on the floristic diversity of Afromontane rainforests in southwestern Ethiopia. To test this hypothesis, detailed vegetation surveys were carried out in 62 study plots located in four relatively undisturbed forest fragments situated at altitudes between 1600 m and 2300 m. Floristic diversity was evaluated using a combination of multivariate statistical analyses and diversity indices. Results: Ordination and indicator species analyses showed gradual variations in floristic diversity along the altitudinal gradient with a pronounced shift in species composition at ca. 1830 m. Upper montane forest (41830 m) is characterized by high fern diversity and indicator species that are Afromontane endemics. Lower montane forest (o1830 m) exhibits a greater diversity of tree species and a higher abundance of the flagship species Coffea arabica. Conclusions: Our results provide crucial ecological background information concerning the montane rainforests of Ethiopia, which have been poorly studied until now. We conclude that both forest types identified during this study need to be considered for conservation because of their particular species compositions. Owing to the high degree of forest fragmentation, conservation concepts should consider a multi-site approach with at least two protected areas at different altitudinal levels.