ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Biodiversity and ecology of coastal wetlands in Ghana

Coastal wetlands are transition zones between terrestrial marine and aquatic habitats; consequently they exhibit relatively unique habitat and species diversity. Estuaries, deltas, and lagoons are among the most biologically productive but least understood ecosystems in the world. In the recent past, the world’s coastal wetlands have been drained and destroyed by conversion to agricultural land, or by industrial and urban development. Wetlands have often been overlooked or misunderstood, but scientists and coastal managers are learning that these ecosystems provide essential services. Such services include the storage of runoff, denitrification and detoxification of polluted water, prevention of shoreline erosion, and they serve as important breeding and feeding grounds for fish, shellfish, and birds. Ghana’s 550 km of coastline includes over one hundred estuaries and lagoons. These coastal wetlands are on the boundary of two major migration corridors for waterbirds: the East Atlantic Flyway and the Mediterranean Flyway. Studies by the Save the Sea Shore Birds ‐ Project and the Ghana Wildlife Society dating back to the early 1980s, have shown that significant numbers of waterbirds use Ghana coastal wetlands as staging areas and wintering grounds. At least 15 species of waterbirds occur here in internationally important populations (Ntiamoa-Baidu 1991). Five coastal lagoons and their watersheds along the Ghana coast have been proposed as Ramsar sites (internationally important wetlands) under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention). In 1992, the government of Ghana received support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) for the protection of these sites (Muni-Pomadze, Densu delta, Sakumo, Songor, and Keta) under the Coastal Wetlands Management Project (CWMP), which is implemented by the Ghana Wildlife Department. The CWMP seeks to preserve the ecological integrity of these five coastal wetlands, and to enhance the socio-economic benefits that these wetlands provide to the local communities (Ntiamoa-Baidu and Gordon 1991; Piersma and Ntiamoa-Baidu 1995). To fulfil the CWMP’s goals, baseline information on the ecological health and integrity of these wetland ecosystems is required before sound management decisions can be made. Toward that end, the CWMP has implemented a series of baseline ecological studies aimed at characterizing the current status of these

Source: UG
Biodiversity and ecosystem services on the African continent – What is changing, and what are our options?

Throughout the world, biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people are under threat, with clear changes evident. Biodiversity and ecosystem services have particular value in Africa– yet they are negatively impacted by a range of drivers, including land use and climate change. In this communication, we show evidence of changing biodiversity and ecosystem services in Africa, as well as the current most significant drivers of change. We then consider five plausible futures for the African continent, each underlain by differing assumptions. In three out of the five futures under consideration, negative impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services are likely to persist. Those two plausible futures prioritizing environment and sustainability, however, are shown as the most likely paths to achieving long term development objectives without compromising the continent’s biodiversity and ecosystem services. Such a finding shows clearly that achievement of such objectives cannot be separated from full recognition of the value of such services.

Source: UG
Biodiversity and status of cetaceans in Benin, West Africa: An initial assessment

No published literature is available on the whales and dolphins of Benin. A first insight in the cetacean biodiversity based on stranding, capture and sighting records, as well as a preliminary assessment of status, is provided. Seven species were authenticated: humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae, common bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus, Atlantic spotted dolphin Stenella frontalis, false killer whale Pseudorca crassidens, short-finned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus, Cuvier's beaked whale Ziphius cavirostris and sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus. Two additional taxa were confirmed at genus level, i.e. common dolphin Delphinus sp. and minke whale Balaenoptera sp. All reported species also occur in Ghana or Togo. Concern is expressed that in Benin, as in some other western African nations, coastal communities increasingly exploit stranded and by-caught cetaceans to supply a thriving, albeit illegal, marine bushmeat trade. Small cetaceans were also taken intentionally in the absence of efficient controls of landings or other management measures. Although presently at subsistence scale, the threat of wider commercialization exists. In view of the limited number of validated species, voucher specimens and scarce biological baseline information, opportunistic sampling must be expanded to include more systematic and dedicated research, in particular, ship-based marine mammal surveys. It is recommended that graduate students at Benin's universities play a central role.

Source: UG
Biodiversity assessment of five forest reserves in the Brong-Ahafo Region

A faunal inventory of five forest reserves in the Brong-Ahafo region was undertaken to determine the ecological status of levels of degradation of the reserves using birds and small mammals as bioindicators. The methodology involved live-trapping of small mammals and recording bird species using ad hoc observations and timed walks along trails or transect. Fifty individuals of nine species of were recorded, with Mastomys orythrolaucus (multimmate mouse) being the most abundant. Small mammal species diversity was highest (H’ = 1.88) and lowest (H’=0.98) in Tain I and Tain II Forest Reserves respectively. The presence of some savanna species in some of the reserves indicated high levels of degradation. Fifty-four bird species representing 22 families was recorded, with 16 of the species being under national protection. It is recommended that the serves be zoned into smaller management areas to enable more efficient management, through initiation of reforestation programmes, anti-poaching patrols, research, long-term monitoring, etc. There is need for intensive education of the local inhabitants on wildlife conservation awareness.

Source: UG
Biodiversity in a forest-agriculture mosaic - The changing face of West African rainforests

The biodiversity of West African rainforests is globally significant but poorly described, little understood in terms of its functional significance, and under threat from forest loss and degradation. Estimates suggest that about 10 million ha of forest may have been lost in the 20th Century, and around 80% of the original forest area is now an agriculture-forest mosaic. These highly modified forests provide food, fuel, fibre and a range of ecosystem services for over 200 million people. As a consequence, the future of biodiversity in the region is intimately linked with the lives and livelihoods of local people. The available evidence suggests that forest loss and degradation has been caused primarily by agricultural expansion, sometimes facilitated by other human activities such as wood extraction. This expansion is a response to the demand generated by a growing and increasingly urbanised human population, but has been exacerbated by small increases in crop yields over recent decades. We synthesize and review our state of knowledge on the value of human-modified habitats for forest biodiversity in the region. Data on biodiversity are patchy, but we show that across plant, invertebrate and vertebrate groups, there is a significant loss of forest species as tree cover is reduced and vegetation structure simplified. Agricultural expansion clearly causes significant local biodiversity loss. We argue that replicated landscape-scale studies are now needed that describe changes across a range of biodiversity groups (above and below ground) in relation to land-use and landscape context to address knowledge gaps and biases. Such descriptive studies need to be complemented by a deeper understanding of the causes of species turnover patterns, together with work on the consequences of biodiversity loss for ecosystem function and services. Biodiversity conservation in the region is becoming increasingly embedded within a more multi-functional view of agriculture-forest mosaics that attempts to recognise and value the range of services provided by tree cover and other land-uses. This relatively new perspective has the potential, at least in principle, to re-shape the drivers of land-use change because tree cover can generate additional revenue through carbon trading or certification schemes. It will become clearer over the coming decades whether this potential can be realised, but the implications for biodiversity conservation in the region are potentially profound. The socio-economic processes that have driven forest loss and degradation in West Africa are having an increasing impact on the relatively undisturbed rainforest of the Congo Basin. We conclude by pointing out that while West African forest landscapes are a potent reminder of what might happen in Central Africa in the near future, they also provide insights for developing policies and practice that might avoid comparable levels of forest loss and degradation. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.

Source: UG
Bioefficacy of Zanthoxylum xanthoxyloides and Securidaca longependuncata against Prostephanus truncatus (Horn) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae) and Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

Prostephanus truncatus Horn (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae) and Tribolium castaneum Herbst (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) are two important stored product insect pests found in most storage warehouses. Their activities tend to reduce the viability and the nutritive values of seeds and grains. In this study the bio-efficacy of Zanthoxylum xanthoxyloides and Securidaca longependuncata against P. truncatus and T. castaneum was investigated. The biological effects of methanol extracts of dry roots and leaves of Z. xanthoxyloides and the roots of S. longependuncata at 0.25 g mL-1, 0.5 g mL-1, 1.0 g mL-1 and 2.0 g mL-1 on the two beetle species were determined in the laboratory using dipping, grain treatment, progeny emergence, repellency and grain damage assessment assays. Adult mortality by dipping ranged between 80% and 100% in both insects for the plants extracts. There was no survival recorded at 2.0 g mL-1 of Z. xanthoxyloides roots and leaves and S. longepedunculata roots for both insects in treated grains. Also, no adult emerged in grains treated with 2.0 g mL-1 of the Z. xanthoxyloides roots while the same concentration of S. longepedunculata resulted in only 2% adult emergence for both insects. The methanol extracts of the two plants yielded various levels of repellency against the insects. 2.0 g/mL-1 of the Z. xanthxyloides roots yielded the highest repellency of 90.0 ± 9.5 % and 100 ± 0.0% against P. truncatus and T. castaneum respectively. Grains treated with plant extracts significantly reduced damage caused by P. truncatus and T. castaneum compared with the untreated grains. © JBiopest 370.

Source: UG
Bioefficacy of zingiber officinale against prostephanus truncatus horn (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae) infesting maize

Maize is an important cereal crop grown in sub-Saharan Africa however, greater part of the grains produced is destroyed in storage by Prostephanus truncatus Horn (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae). In this study, the bio -activities of Zingiber officinale rhizome (Ginger), was investigated in the laboratory against P. truncatus at different proportions (25%, 20%, 15%, 10% and 5% wt/wt) with Actellic dust insecticide as a reference insecticide. The highest proportions (25% wt/wt) of Z. officinale powder significantly reduced the survival of P. truncatus to 0% after 12 days of treatment and the LD50 of the dust was obtained as 6.72%. The oil extract of Z. officinale at different concentrations (700 µL/mL, 350 µL/mL, 175 µL/mL, 87.5 µL/mL and 44 µ L/mL) and Agricombi insecticide as the reference was equally evaluated for the following: contact toxicity on adult insect by dipping, grain residual treatment, repellency effect, effect on progeny and adult emergence in treated grains and damage assessment to grains. There was no survival (0%) recorded at 700 µL/mL both in contact and residual treatment of P. truncatus. The LD50 of the oil extract was obtained as 84.78 µL/mL. Grains treated with the different concentrations of Z. officinale oil significantly repelled in sects with the highest concentration of 700 µL/mL yielding 100% repellency. The least mean adult emergence of 0.0 was recorded for both concentrations of 700 µL/mL and 350 µL/mL in treated grains. Grain damage by P. truncatus was significantly reduced when treated with Powder and oil extract of Z. officinale compared to the untreated grains.

Source: UG
Bioethics In Africa: A Contextually Enlightened Analysis Of Three Cases

Across sub-Saharan Africa, bioethics is an emerging field of scholarly inquiry informed by contextual features distinct to the region. a cultural mix comprised of European influences, indigenous traditions, Christian faiths, and Muslim communities, a bioethics for the sub-Saharan region must be responsive to this milieu. This paper asks: What values and methods can best promote the practice of bioethics in Africa? We set forth a strategy that leans one way or another in response to the contextual features of a particular setting. Since our aim is to be responsive to context, we begin with a series of cases and develop values and methods in response to each case as we work through its ethical analysis. Section 1 introduces a case involving setting priorities for public funding of services that produce large benefits for a small group of people, using the example of dialysis in Ghana. Section 11 presents a situation involving determining the permissibility of a double standard of quality for healthcare devices in rich and poor nations, using the example of explanting peacemakers from deceased people in wealthy nations for use by people in low and middle-income nations. Section 111 describes a scenario where international groups clash with religious and spiritual healers over the chaining of people with severe mental illness at prayer camps and healing centres in Ghana. Section IV articulates a three-pronged strategy for engaging in bioethics brought to light by the case analyses and defends it against objections. Throughout the paper, we tag certain views as African and others as Western to indicate ethical beliefs commonly found in these regions and less commonly found elsewhere. We do not mean to imply that all Africans hold a certain ethical stance or that all Westerners do, nor do we mean to suggest that people outside these regions do not hold the views in question.

Source: UG
Bioethics North and South: Creating a common ground

Bioethics as practiced in Europe, the United States, and Canada has a tenuous and tentative reach into the developing countries of Africa, South America, and Asia. This paper explores the problematic translation of bioethics between the Global North and South; and between resource rich and resource poor countries. As Alexander Capron put it in 2007, bioethics has a 10/90 problem, analogizing to the observation that medical research spends 90% of its resources on problems affecting 10% of the world's population. Today, UNESCO's bioethics website says bioethics focuses on “stem cell research, genetic testing, cloning, progress in the life sciences”. Any review of the most widely cited bioethics articles and journals finds that the writing is largely centered within an enclave of first world concerns. Stem cells and cloning are neither health care nor health science priorities of developing countries. The priorities of developing countries (i.e., those that would improve the health of populations or that refer to local diseases) are marginalized. Costly and/or impractical medical infrastructure is discussed or proposed. The first-world orientation of bioethics was perhaps somewhat practicable during a post-World War II stasis, but it is increasingly dysfunctional and even dangerous in the context of twenty-first century climate change, refugee movements, and disease vector migrations. A new global bioethics is urgently needed.

Source: UG
Bioethics’ Duty to Conference in Qatar: Reply to Magnus

Is it unethical to host an international bioethics conference in Qatar? In an editorial in this issue, David Magnus (2024) argues that conferencing in Qatar or other places where human rights violations occur, is not ethically justified. According to Magnus, the International Association of Bioethics’ (IABs’) decision to host the 2024 World Congress of Bioethics (WCB) at a Qatari-based university was “a major mistake by the IAB board.” We hold a much different view. In the face of unjust laws and human rights violations, more than one response is ethically defensible, as some of us have argued (Jecker and Ravitsky 2023; Jecker et al. 2024a; Jecker et al. 2024b; Jecker, Verweij, et al. 2023; Ghaly, El Akoum, and Afdhal 2023). Boycotting is one way to seek to change an unjust situation, but so too is engaging with people who are willing to host, hear, and take seriously challenges and objections to their prevailing norms (Jecker, Ravitsky, et al., 2023). Qatari-based hosts have invited bioethicists from around the world to engage with them in an open exchange of ideas, and offered a conference venue where this can occur. Bioethicists should engage and should foster open and respectful dialogue. To avoid redundancy with arguments, some of us have developed elsewhere (Jecker and Ravitsky, 2023; Jecker et al. 2024a; Jecker et al. 2024b; Jecker, Verweij, et al. 2023; Ghaly, El Akoum, and Afdhal 2023), we limit our response mostly to points not considered previously.

Source: UG
Biofertilizer Activity of Azospirillum sp. B510 on the Rice Productivity in Ghana

Rice production in Ghana has become unsustainable due to the extremely nutrient-poor soils. It is caused by inadequate soil fertility management, including the inefficient application of fertilizers. A practical solution could be the biofertilizers, Azospirillum sp. B510. We performed field trials in Ghana and Japan to compare the effects of B510 colonization on selected Ghanaian rice varieties grown. The B510 inoculation significantly enhanced the rice cultivars’ growth and yield. The phenotypic characteristics observed in rice varieties Exbaika, Ex-Boako, AgraRice, and Amankwatia were mainly short length and high tillering capacity. These features are attributed to the host plant (cv. Nipponbare), from which the strain B510 was isolated. Furthermore, Azospirillum species has been identified as the dominant colonizing bacterium of rice rhizosphere across a diverse range of agroecologies in all major rice-growing regions in Ghana. Our results suggest that the utilization of B510 as a bio-fertilizer presents a promising way to improve rice growth, enhance soil fertility, and sustain rice productivity in Ghana.

Source: UG
Biofilm formation of Clostridium difficile and susceptibility to Manuka Honey

Abstract Background Biofilm bacteria are relatively more resistant to antibiotics. The escalating trend of antibiotic resistance higlights the need for evaluating alternative potential therapeutic agents with antibacterial properties. The use of honey for treating microbial infections dates back to ancient times, though antimicrobial properties of Manuka honey was discovered recently. The aim of this study was to demonstrate biofilm formation of specific Clostridium difficile strains and evaluate susceptibility of the biofilm to Manuka honey. Methods Three C. difficile strains were used in the study including the ATCC 9689 strain, a ribotype 027 strain and a ribotype 106 strain. Each test strain was grown in sterile microtitre plates and incubated at 37&#176;C for 24 and 48&#160;hours in an anaerobic cabinet to allow formation of adherent growth (biofilm) on the walls of the wells. The effect of Manuka honey on the biofilms formed was investigated at varying concentrations of 1-50% (w/v) of Manuka honey. Results The three C. difficile strains tested formed biofilms after 24&#160;hours with the ribotype 027 strain producing the most extensive growth. There was no significant difference (p&#8201;&gt;&#8201;0.05) found between the amount of biofilms formed after 24 and 48&#160;hours of incubation for each of the three C. difficile strains. A dose&#8211;response relationship between concentration of Manuka honey and biofilm formation was observed for all the test strains, and the optimum Manuka honey activity occurred at 40-50% (v/v). Conclusion Manuka honey has antibacterial properties capable of inhibiting in vitro biofilm formed by C. difficile.

Source: UG
Biogenic Amines in Foods

Biogenic amines (also known as biologically active amines) are low-molecular weight organic compounds produced in biological systems by enzymatic decarboxylation of certain amino acids such as histamine and tyrosine. Examples include dopamine, histamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, and tyramine. They function in the body as neurotransmitters and relay signals between neurons across synapses to impact on mental functions, blood pressure, body temperature, appetite, and several other physiological processes. The levels of biogenic amines in the body are regulated for proper functioning of the various physiological processes that they are associated with. Certain foods contain biogenic amines that can add to the amounts naturally present in the body. High intake of these foods could upset the balance of biogenic amines in the body to cause health problems such as hypotension, hypertension, gastrointestinal distress, headaches and migraine, and others. Thus, it is crucial to curtail the formation and levels of these compounds in certain food products. This chapter discusses the formation and occurrence of biogenic amines in selected food products, their effects of human health and significance to the food industry, their detection, and their fate during processing and storage. The chapter also covers regulation of biogenic amines in foods. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc..

Source: UG
Biological efficacy of CalneemTM oil against the tropical warehouse moth Ephestia cautella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in stored maize

The tropical warehouse moth Ephestia cautella (Walker) is an important storage pest of maize grain. The control of this major moth pest relies heavily on the use of synthetic insecticides. We assessed the biological efficacy of a commercial neem oil (Calneem oil) against E. cautella in the laboratory, using the common grain protectant Actellic as a positive control. Contact toxicity, repellency, effects on oviposition, development and grain damage were assessed. The assays were conducted by treating 100 g of maize grains with Calneem oil concentrations of 3, 5 and 7 ml/l; and Actellic at 2 ml/l. Calneem oil significantly (P < 0.05) reduced oviposition rate, development of eggs and immature stages, and emergence rate of E. cautella progeny in maize grains. Grains treated with Calneem oil had significantly (P < 0.05) reduced grain damage in storage, and the oil had a repellency of 53-70% compared with the negative control. Calneem oil protected maize grain against damage by E. cautella for 10 weeks, compared with 20 weeks protection by Actellic. There was no resistance development to the oil for three generations of E. cautella. The insects that survived treatment with the LC90 concentration (12.2 ml/l) of the Calneem oil laid fewer eggs, and some of their progeny were deformed. Calneem oil provided a good level of protection to maize grains against infestation by E. cautella, and may therefore be a suitable substitute for Actellic. © 2010 icipe.

Source: UG