Reshaping the future of ethnobiology research after the COVID-19 pandemic A geographically diverse group of 29 ethnobiologists addresses three common themes in response to the COVID-19 global health crisis: impact on local communities, future interactions between researchers and communities, and new (or renewed) conceptual and/or applied research priorities for ethnobiology.

Enset is a perennial root crop indigenous to Ethiopia cultivated dominantly in the south and southwestern highlands. There are several enset varieties or clones mainly produced for their starch from the pseudostem while some are exclusively cultivated for their corm. Kocho, bulla, and corm (amicho) are the main food products of enset. We studied the nutritional, socio-economic, and cultural values of this crop. The corm (Neqaqa) was found to be more nutritious than bulla (Gena) except in starch and zinc contents. Enset is rich in starch but low in protein composition hence, dietary protein source is mandatory. It plays great role in the food security of the country and a staple food for significant Ethiopian population. It has several environmental, nutritional, and socio-cultural importance however its cultivation is under disease challenges. Continuous research effort is required to improve the production of enset and its food products and fiber processing.

Complete sequences of transcribed spacers and introns from the trnT trnF region of chloroplast DNA (cp DNA) were generated from Musaceae species to establish the phylogenetic relationships among 3 species of Ensete including the economically important Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman and 13 species of Musa. Parsimony analysis and pair wise distance data produced a single tree, with Ensete and Musa as clearly distinguished clades. Six Musa and three Ensete clades were generated. The topology of these clades did not change when the data were split into spacers and introns, although the split resulted in poor bootstrap support. Removing a hotspot from the entire data set improved clade support. The clades produced are discussed with reference to existing taxonomic and phylogenetic treatments. In contrast to previous suggestions, most of the Rhodochlamys species that we investigated clustered together with strong support establishing their distinctiveness from the Musa species studied. Ensete glaucum (Roxb.) Cheesman and Musa beccartii Simmonds appear to represent ancestral forms of Ensete and Musa, respectively for the presently studied species, and both genera have a common ancestor that is yet to be established. Our data also show that E. ventricosum cannot be reduced to E. glaucum, nor can E. gilleti (De Wild.) Cheesman be reduced to E. ventricosum, as some authorities have suggested. Ensete gilleti or a species very close to it appears to be the ancestral species of E. ventricosum.

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