SEB-LEK (Sebitoli Ecological Biodiversity – Local Ecological Knowledge): Dataset on a Research Project Staff Knowledge of Local Taxa and Encounter Frequencies in Kibale National Park, Uganda

Gabriel Dubus; Hugo Magaldi; Raymond Katumba; Harold Rugonge; John Justice Tibesigwa; Marc Allassonnière-Tang; Sabrina Krief

doi:10.5334/johd.543

SEB-LEK (Sebitoli Ecological Biodiversity – Local Ecological Knowledge): Dataset on a Research Project Staff Knowledge of Local Taxa and Encounter Frequencies in Kibale National Park, Uganda

Volume 12 (2026): Issue 1

By: Gabriel Dubus , Hugo Magaldi , Raymond Katumba , Harold Rugonge , John Justice Tibesigwa, Marc Allassonnière-Tang and Sabrina Krief

Open Access

|Jun 2026

Abstract

SEB-LEK documents local ecological knowledge of forest vertebrates among research and conservation staff working in Sebitoli, Kibale National Park in Uganda. Using a two-step group survey, participants identified vertebrate taxa from visual and auditory cues and reported ordinal encounter frequencies for seeing and hearing each taxon. Responses were collected in English and the local language, Rutooro. The dataset comprises identification responses and encounter-frequency ratings for 54 taxa. It enables comparative analyses of human knowledge, biodiversity monitoring methods, and ethnozoological research. Beyond its applications in the analysis of biodiversity, the dataset documents vernacular naming practices and patterns of local ecological knowledge in Rutooro, which provides a valuable resource for linguistic, anthropological, and ethnobiological research. It enables studies analyzing how environmental knowledge is structured within a language and its cultural contexts. It also provides data for comparative analyses of human–environment relationships.

References

Atran, S., & Medin, D. (2008). The native mind and the cultural construction of nature. MIT Press. 10.7551/mitpress/7683.001.0001
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Berkes, F. (2018). Sacred ecology (4th ed.). Routledge. 10.4324/9781315114644
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Berlin, B. (1992). Ethnobiological classification: Principles of categorization of plants and animals in traditional societies. Princeton University Press. 10.1515/9781400862597
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Díaz, S., Settele, J., Brondízio, E. S., Ngo, H. T., Agard, J., Arneth, A., Balvanera, P., Brauman, K. A., Butchart, S. H. M., Chan, K. M. A., Garibaldi, L. A., Ichii, K., Liu, J., Subramanian, S. M., Midgley, G. F., Miloslavich, P., Molnár, Z., Obura, D., Pfaff, A., … Zayas, C. N. (2019). Pervasive human-driven decline of life on Earth points to the need for transformative change. Science, 366(6471), eaax3100. 10.1126/science.aax3100
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Fernández-Llamazares, Á., Lepofsky, D., Lertzman, K., Armstrong, C. G., Brondizio, E. S., Gavin, M. C., Lyver, P. O’B., Nicholas, G. P., Pascua, P., Reo, N. J., Reyes-García, V., Turner, N. J., Yletyinen, J., Anderson, E. N., Balée, W., Cariño, J., David-Chavez, D. M., Dunn, C. P., Garnett, S. C., … Vaughan, M. B. (2021). Scientists’ warning to humanity on threats to Indigenous and local knowledge systems. Journal of Ethnobiology, 41(2), 144–169. 10.2993/0278-0771-41.2.144
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Folke, C. (2006). Resilience: The emergence of a perspective for social–ecological systems analyses. Global Environmental Change, 16(3), 253–267. 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2006.04.002
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Kaji, S. (2009). Tone and syntax in Rutooro, a toneless Bantu language of Western Uganda. Language Sciences, 31(2–3), 239–247. ISSN 0388-0001, 10.1016/j.langsci.2008.12.006
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Krief, S., Iglesias-González, A., Appenzeller, B. M. R., Okimat, J. P., Fini, J. B., Demeneix, B., Vaslin-Reimann, S., Lardy-Fontan, S., Guma, N., & Spirhanzlova, P. (2020). Road impact in a protected area with rich biodiversity: the case of the Sebitoli road in Kibale National Park, Uganda. Environmental Science and Pollution Research International, 27(22), 27914–27925. 10.1007/s11356-020-09098-0
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Maffi, L. (2005). Linguistic, cultural, and biological diversity. Annual Review of Anthropology, 34, 599–617. 10.1146/annurev.anthro.34.081804.120437
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Rubongoya, L. T. (1999). East African languages and dialects: Vol. 9: A modern Runyoro-Rutooro grammar. Rüdiger Köppe.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Wanyama, F., Muhabwe, R., Plumptre, A. J., Chapman, C. A., & Rothman, J. M. (2010). Censusing large mammals in Kibale National Park: Evaluation of the intensity of sampling required to determine change. African Journal of Ecology, 48, 953–961. 10.1111/j.1365-2028.2009.01197.x
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article