Ethnobotanical and Ecological Data on Totems and Sacred Groves in Southeast Nigeria

A 2026 study by Felix Ifeanyi Nwafor investigates 27 communities in Enugu State, Nigeria. The research includes quantitative ethnographic fieldwork and ecological assessments of sacred groves, reporting on 21 totemic plants and species richness ranging from 133 to 179 species. The dataset is a supplementary document from the study, shared under a CC-BY-4.0 license.

Use Cases

• Analyzing cultural salience of totemic plants based on reported use-value (UV) and relative frequency of citation (RFC) metrics
• Modeling biodiversity indicators in sacred groves based on reported Shannon diversity (4.18–4.62) and Simpson's index (0.97–0.99) values
• Investigating the relationship between cultural protection mechanisms and forest conservation outcomes described in the results
• Studying plant species with high cultural fidelity scores, such as Dracaena arborea (94.44%) and Ficus thonningii (92.42%)

Strengths

• Includes specific quantitative metrics for 21 totemic plants, including frequency counts and fidelity scores
• Reports detailed ecological indices for studied groves, including species richness and diversity measures
• Based on a mixed-methods approach combining interviews, ethnographic fieldwork, and ecological assessment

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• The 147.9 KB file size suggests the dataset is a supplementary document, not a primary data repository

Provenance

Source

Figshare, authored by Felix Ifeanyi Nwafor

Collection Method

Mixed-methods approach combining descriptive assessments through interviews, quantitative ethnographic fieldwork, and ecological assessment

Time Range

Study period not specified; dataset reflects research published in 2026

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-15 05:35:46; freshness should be verified

Geography

27 communities in Enugu State, Southeast Nigeria