BMC ecology and evolution最新文献

{"title":"Crowdsourcing conservation: unveiling Taiwan's sea turtle foraging grounds, emerging threats, and residency with broad societal engagement.","authors":"Chia-Ling Fong, Daphne Z Hoh, Huai Su, Peng-Yu Chen, Chia-Chen Tsai, Kelly W H Tseng, Hao-Chih Huang, Jun-Yi Wu, Yoko Nozawa, Benny K K Chan","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02354-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-025-02354-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Determining sea turtle foraging grounds, emerging threats, and population status are essential for conservation management. Crowdsourced science is a recently recognized approach that enables internet-based data collection, providing important contributions to scientific goals while also benefiting society and public education. This study is based on the published dataset from TurtleSpot Taiwan (2017-2022) with the aim to leverage crowdsourced data to determine sea turtle foraging grounds, emerging threats, demography, and residency patterns in Taiwan.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We identified three green turtle (Chelonia mydas) foraging grounds in Taiwan (Liuqiu Island, Kenting, and Green Island), defined as sites with > 100 sightings and > 50 individuals. Among all sites, Liuqiu Island contributed 77% of the total sightings, suggesting this island is a hotspot. Emerging threats to foraging aggregations of sea turtles in Taiwan were evident from the reported sightings, with ~ 10% of the total sightings involving turtles with fishing line entanglement, ingested debris, missing flippers, or injuries. Most of these sightings occurred in Liuqiu Island, indicating a significant level of human-turtle disturbance. Residency patterns identified from sighting data showed that 43.4% of individuals stayed in the same area for one or more years, with adult-sized turtle residency greater than that of immature turtles.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Taiwan supports healthy foraging grounds for green turtles, where adults often stay for more than one year and with dynamic populations of younger individuals. However, despite a certain number of foraging green turtles observed in Liuqiu Island, many of these turtles displayed injuries. This high population density combined with increased injury frequency suggests that a comprehensive management plan for turtle foraging grounds is urgently needed, including measures to reduce boat speeds in hotspot areas and strict regulations on coastal human activity.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"27"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11931839/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143702532","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Editorial Expression of Concern: mtDNA structure: the women who formed the Brazilian northeast.","authors":"Ana Paula Schaan, Lorenna Costa, Diego Santos, Antonio Modesto, Marcos Amador, Camile Lopes, Sílvia Helena Rabenhorst, Raquel Montenegro, Bruno D A Souza, Thayson Lopes, France Keiko Yoshioka, Giovanny Pinto, Vivian Silbiger, Ândrea Ribeiro-Dos-Santos","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02366-y","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-025-02366-y","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"26"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11927178/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143676729","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Repetitive DNAs and differentiation of the ZZ/ZW sex chromosome system in the combtail fish Belontia hasselti (Perciformes: Osphronemidae).","authors":"Alan Moura de Oliveira, Geize Aparecida Deon, Alexandr Sember, Caio Augusto Gomes Goes, Weerayuth Supiwong, Alongklod Tanomtong, Fábio Porto-Foresti, Ricardo Utsunomia, Thomas Liehr, Marcelo de Bello Cioffi","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02358-y","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-025-02358-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Java combtail fish Belontia hasselti (Cuvier, 1831), a member of the Osphronemidae family, inhabits lakes and rivers throughout Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka. Previous cytogenetic research revealed it possesses a diploid chromosome number of 48 chromosomes with a female-heterogametic ZZ/ZW sex chromosome system, where the W chromosome is distinguishable as the only metacentric element in the complement. Female-heterogametic sex chromosome systems seem to be otherwise surprisingly rare in the highly diverse order Perciformes and, therefore, B. hasselti provides an important comparative model to evolutionary studies in this teleost lineage. To examine the level of sex chromosome differentiation in B. hasselti and the contribution of repetitive DNAs to this process we combined bioinformatic analyses with chromosomal mapping of selected repetitive DNA classes, and comparative genomic hybridization.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>By providing the first satellitome study in Perciformes, we herein identified 13 satellite DNA monomers in B. hasselti, suggesting a very low diversity of satDNA in this fish species. Using fluorescence in situ hybridization, we revealed detectable clusters on chromosomes only for four satellite DNA monomers. Together with the two mapped microsatellite motifs, the repeats primarily accumulated on autosomes, with no distinct clusters located on the sex chromosomes. Comparative genomic hybridization showed no region with accumulated female-specific or enriched repeats on the W chromosome. Telomeric repeats terminated all chromosomes, and no additional interstitial sites were detected.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These data collectively indicate a low degree of sex chromosome differentiation in B. hasselti despite their considerable heteromorphy. Possible mechanisms that may underlie this pattern are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"25"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11917085/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143652237","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Latitudinal Biotic Interaction Hypothesis revisited: contrasting latitudinal richness gradients in actively vs. passively accumulated interaction partners of honey bees.","authors":"Alyssa R Cirtwill, Tomas Roslin, Pablo Peña-Aguilera, Agathe Agboto, William Bercê, Svetlana N Bondarchuk, Robert Brodschneider, Behzad Heidari, Camara Kaizirege, Justine Muhoro Nyaga, Ojonugwa Ekpah, Gonzalo Ossa Gomez, Claudia Paz, Christian Pirk, Amir Salehi-Najafabadi, Anneli Salonen, Chantal Soloniaina, Helena Wirta","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02363-1","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-025-02363-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Contrasting hypotheses suggest that the number of biotic interactions per species could either increase towards the equator due to the increasing richness of potential interaction partners (Neutral theory), or decrease in the tropics due to increased biotic competition (Latitudinal Biotic Interaction Hypothesis). Empirical testing of these hypotheses remains limited due to practical limitations, differences in methodology, and species turnover across latitudes. Here, we focus on a single species with a worldwide distribution, the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.), to assess how the number of different types of interactions vary across latitudes. Foraging honey bees interact with many organisms in their local environment, including plants they actively select to visit and microbes that they largely encounter passively (i.e., unintentionally and more or less randomly). Tissue pieces and spores of these organisms are carried to the hive by foraging honey bees and end up preserved within honey, providing a rich record of the species honey bees encounter in nature.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Using honey samples from around the globe, we show that while honey bees visit more plant taxa at higher latitudes, they encounter more bacteria in the tropics.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These different components of honey bees' biotic niche support the latitudinal biotic interaction hypothesis for actively-chosen interactions, but are more consistent with neutral theory (assuming greater bacterial richness in the tropics) for unintentional interactions.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"24"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11912709/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143652413","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cryptic diversity, phenotypic congruence, and evolutionary history of the Leptobotia citrauratea complex (Pisces: Botiidae) within subtropical eastern China.","authors":"Dongming Guo, Xiong Gong, Wenjing Yi, Liang Cao, E Zhang","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02362-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-025-02362-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Elucidating the emergence and maintenance of cryptic diversity is a major focus of evolutionary biology. Integrative taxonomy is widely considered as the best practice for delimiting cryptic species and exploring cryptic speciation. This approach is used here to study the Leptobotia citrauratea complex, a group of small-sized loaches so far found in subtropical floodplains and hills of eastern China. A total 170 specimens were collected from 24 sampling sites, encompassing geographical variations and divergent habitas. Six putative species, out of which two are cryptic, were delineated by integrating molecular (two mtDNA and three nuDNA genes) and morphological analyses. These species constituted three ecotypes, exhibiting phenotypic disparities concordant with a habitat transition from high- to low-flow environments. Phenotypic similarities among them were shown to not align with their phylogenetic relationships but closely correlate with habitat utilization. Convergent evolution, driven by similar selective pressure associated with habitat-specific use, likely accounts for the cryptic diversity unveiled in the recently diverging species complex. The diversification of this species complex began in the late Pliocene, coinciding with tectonic activities in the subtropical region of eastern China. Subsequent rapid differentiation during the Pleistocene was possibly driven by regional climate fluctuations. This evolutionary trajectory highlights the crucial roles of geological, climate and ecological factors in shaping biodiversity in this region.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"23"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11912635/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143652584","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Molecular evolution of gustatory receptors in the Anopheles gambiae complex.","authors":"Zachary R Popkin-Hall, Michel A Slotman","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02359-x","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-025-02359-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Mosquitoes in the Anopheles (An.) gambiae species complex are major vectors of Plasmodium falciparum malaria. One reason for this is the high anthropophily of the constituent species An. coluzzii, An. gambiae sensu stricto, and An. arabiensis. In contrast, their sister species An. quadriannulatus is highly zoophilic. Anopheles mosquitoes largely rely on chemical cues for host-seeking, which are primarily detected by four chemosensory gene families: olfactory receptors (Ors), ionotropic receptors (Irs), gustatory receptors (Grs), and odorant binding proteins (Obps). Genes from these families that have been implicated in host adaptation show evidence of positive selection in other insect species, including other mosquitoes. As such, we analyzed the molecular evolutionary patterns of the gustatory receptors within the Anopheles gambiae complex, with a particular interest in identifying Grs that show evidence of positive selection in highly anthropophilic species.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We identified sixteen Grs that show evidence of potential positive selection using the McDonald-Kreitman test, including four putative sugar receptors and two Grs with unknown ligands that are relatively highly expressed in chemosensory organs of either An. coluzzii or An. quadriannulatus. In addition, we identified twelve Grs that show evidence of potential purifying selection using the McDonald-Kreitman test, and twelve Grs that may have experienced a selective sweep using the DH test, including three putative sugar receptors and the carbon dioxide receptor Gr24. We also identified both positive and purifying selection in the coastal species An. melas (West Africa) and An. merus (East Africa).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our results, together with transcriptomic data, identify four Grs as possible candidates for involvement in the evolution of vertebrate host preference in the An. gambiae complex, as may have occurred in the An. farauti complex. They also point to sugar receptors as playing a role in recent adaptation of some of these species. As the vast majority of Grs have unknown functions and much is still unknown about the role of Grs in these species, a more complete interpretation of our data necessitates further characterization of these genes.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"22"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11912695/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143652585","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mutations in the signal peptide of effector gene Pi04314 contribute to the adaptive evolution of the Phytophthora infestans.","authors":"Hai-Bing Ouyang, Yan-Ping Wang, Meng-Han He, E-Jiao Wu, Bin-Hong Hu, Jiasui Zhan, Lina Yang","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02360-4","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-025-02360-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Effectors are critical in the antagonistic interactions between plants and pathogens. However, knowledge of mutation mechanisms and evolutionary processes of effectors remains fragmented despite its importance for the sustainable management of plant diseases. Here, we used a population genetic approach to explore the evolution of the effector gene Pi04314 in Phytophthora infestans, the causal agent of potato blight.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We found that Pi04314 gene exhibits a low genetic variation generated by point mutations mainly occurring in the signal peptide. Two of the 14 amino acid isoforms completely abolished the secretion functions of signal peptides. The effector is under purifying selection, supported by the comparative analyses between its population differentiation with that of SSR marker loci as well as by negative Tajima's D (-1.578, p = 0.040) and Fu's FS (-10.485, p = 0.000). Furthermore, we found that the nucleotide diversity of Pi04314 is significantly correlated with the annual mean temperature at the collection sites.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These results suggest that the evolution of effector genes could be influenced by local air temperature and signal peptides may contribute to the ecological adaptation of pathogens. The implications of these results for agricultural and natural sustainability are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"21"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11907978/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143627186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Short-distance seed and pollen dispersal in both hunted and intact forests in the lower canopy African rainforest tree, Coula edulis Baill. (Coulaceae).","authors":"Narcisse Guy Kamdem, Bonaventure Sonké, Saskia Sergeant, Vincent Deblauwe, Olivier J Hardy","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02356-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-025-02356-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Mammal-dispersed tropical trees can face regeneration problems due to increasing hunting pressure. We studied the case of Coula edulis Baill. (Coulaceae), an African rainforest tree that produces the 'African walnut', an essential food and income resource for rural communities. We compared gene flow and regeneration dynamics in three populations with contrasting levels of human disturbance and mammal abundance. Using 21 nuclear microsatellite markers, we estimated the outcrossing rate and contemporary seed and pollen dispersal distances, and we analyzed the fine-scale spatial genetic structure (FSGS) to infer historical gene dispersal distances.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Juveniles were outcrossed while 30% of the seeds from one population were selfed, suggesting the elimination of inbred seeds. The mean dispersal distances were relatively short for seeds (105-219 m) and pollen (173-358 m), both shorter in the most intact forest. Immigration rates were three to four times higher for pollen (33-71%) than for seeds (7-28%), indicating some long-distance pollen dispersal. FSGS was strong in all populations (Sp = 0.023-0.036), suggesting short-range historical gene dispersal distances consistent with contemporary estimates. We detected assortative mating, possibly due to higher flowering synchronicity between related individuals. The most disturbed plots displayed inverted J-shaped trunk diameter structures, typical of continuous regeneration, while the intact forest had diameter structure indicating more limited regeneration.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our results suggest that forest disturbance and mammal hunting do not significantly affect the dispersal distances of seed and pollen for Coula edulis, contrary to other mammals-dispersed trees. We hypothesize that the main dispersers are scatter hoarding rodents that are less impacted, or even facilitated, by hunting pressure. The species appears to regenerate better in disturbed forests, possibly due to a reduction in seed and seedling predators. However, natural populations are threatened by ongoing forest conversion into agriculture.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"20"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11905475/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143617973","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Increased phenotypic diversity as a consequence of ecological opportunity in the island radiation of Sulawesi ricefishes (Teleostei: Adrianichthyidae).","authors":"Jan Möhring, Sebastian Hüllen, Sebastian Martin, Daniel F Mokodongan, Daisy Wowor, Julia Schwarzer, Fabian Herder","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02355-1","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-025-02355-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ecological opportunity is considered a main driver of adaptive diversification. Colonization of new areas and habitats provides novel opportunities, which may lead to phenotypic change and rapid diversification. The geographically isolated island Sulawesi in Indonesia hosts numerous endemic radiations. The ricefish family Adrianichthyidae is the most speciose of the few exclusively freshwater-dwelling fish lineages that colonized the tropical island. While the family's distribution includes large parts of Asia, the monophyletic lineage endemic to Sulawesi comprises more than half of all species described, with conspicuous morphological diversity. Using shape and size as proxies for phenotypic and ecological diversity, we first test the hypothesis that Sulawesi ricefishes are more diverse than non-Sulawesi species. We then ask if adaptation to alternative macrohabitats, namely rivers and lakes, can explain phenotypic diversification. We find that Sulawesi ricefishes exhibit greater disparity in body and head shape than non-Sulawesi ricefishes. By including phylogenomic data, we demonstrate that shape diversity in Sulawesi evolved along multiple trajectories, with reduced phylogenetic influence. Changes in body depth and head elongation are prominent, indicating distinct ecological drivers. In particular, body depth evolves along the river-lake axis, and lake species are more diverse compared to riverine ricefishes. In some lacustrine species, pronounced changes in head shape, a trait commonly associated with feeding in fishes, suggest trophic adaptation. Rates of phenotype evolution are higher in the Sulawesi lineages, in particular in lacustrine species. Lastly, we identified opposing trends in size evolution, with generally larger bodies in Sulawesi and repeated miniaturization in non-Sulawesi species. Our results indicate that ecological opportunity greatly influenced the observed phenotype diversity. Low diversity of freshwater fish lineages created environments with reduced competition, whereas additional factors, such as the island's complex geological history, created diverse habitats. As reflected in very localized endemism, species diversity is possibly also driven by long-term spatial isolation, which alone however offers insufficient explanation for the increase in phenotypic disparity. Taken together, ecological opportunity was a dominant driver of the phenotypic diversification of Sulawesi ricefishes, potentially complemented by past introgressive hybridization events and small-scale spatial isolation.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"19"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11900528/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143617972","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Confronting cultures: northern Madagascar's cultural beliefs and the relationship of owls and humans.","authors":"Manana Oclin Arsene, Xiaoya Shan","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02357-z","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-025-02357-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Owls are often associated with superstitions and witchcraft in various cultures, leading to conflicts between human communities and these birds. This study, conducted in 2023 across 16 villages in Andapa, a northern district of Madagascar, aimed to investigate the challenges of human-owl coexistence. It specifically explored the cultural beliefs and conflicts driving the motivation to kill owls, particularly during witch-hunting incidents between 2021 and 2022. The findings revealed a prevalent belief among the local population in the close association between witches and owls. Both villagers and witches demonstrated a lack of understanding of environmental laws and regulations, intensifying motivations for owl hunting. The limited awareness of the legal consequences of hunting owls among the local population, combined with a lack of understanding among witches about the law prohibiting the keeping of owls as domestic companions, significantly contributes to this issue. Furthermore, the analysis showed that individuals with strong traditional beliefs or who had encountered dead owls were more likely to engage in owl hunting. Conversely, those more educated, knowledgeable about wildlife protection laws, or aware of the ecological importance of owls were less likely to participate in such practices. This study underscores the urgent need to raise awareness of owls' ecological value, improve understanding of wildlife protection laws, and promote education to reduce owl-hunting behavior in the region.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"18"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11899044/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143607578","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}