Theses and Dissertations (Zoology)

Studies of Leachate in Dumpsites in Enugu Metropolis, Enugu State

2019-09-01T00:00:00Z

Studies of Leachate in Dumpsites in Enugu Metropolis, Enugu State Madu, Onyinye Callista A study of leachates in dumpsites in Enugu metropolis, Enugu State was undertaken from July, 2018 to January, 2019. The aim was to determine the leachate characteristics of the various dumpsites in Enugu. A total of 9 residential areas’ major dumpsites (Emene, Abakpa, Trans-Ekulu, GRA, Gariki, Asata, New Haven, Uwani, and Achara Layout) were studied. Site selections along the vicinity of the dumpsite were areas where waters from the dumpsites drip to the ground. The collected leachate samples were taken to the laboratory in plastic bottles in an ice cooler, filtered through a 250 mm Whatman filter paper and then stored in polyethylene bottles and preserved in cold room at a temperature of 4 °C prior to the physicochemical and metallic analyses. The data obtained from the study were analyzed using SPSS for Windows version 20. From the result, the pH value of the dumpsites ranged from 6.77 – 7.66 in the wet season and 6.73 – 7.29 in the dry season. Seasonal differences in pH values were recorded in the dumpsites. Electrical conductivity of the dumpsites ranged from 12.22 – 437.33 in wet season and 26.00 – 457.33 in dry season respectively. Also, the total dissolved solids values for both seasons ranged from 53.44 – 1480.78 (wet season) and 78.89 – 1263.11 (dry season). The present study heavy metals evaluation showed significantly increased copper (wet season: 0.01 – 2.29; dry season: 0.00 – 2.54), manganese (wet season: 0.02 – 0.64; dry season: 0.12 – 4.54), lead (wet season: 0.00 – 0.02; dry season: 0.03 – 1.05), cadmium (wet season: 0.01 – 0.93; dry season: 0.11 – 2.31), chromium (wet season: 0.02 – 0.15; dry season: 0.04 – 0.84), arsenic (wet season: 0.01 – 2.17; dry season: 0.09 – 2.81), and nickel (wet season: 0.08 – 0.30; dry season: 0.13 – 0.92) levels during the dry season. The concentrations of the heavy metals in the wet season followed this sequence in decreasing order: Ar > Cd > Mn > Ni > Cu > Cr > Pb. Arsenic and chromium were highest in Uwani dumpsite, cadmium levels highest in New Haven, manganese levels highest in GRA, nickel was highest in Echara New Layout, copper was highest in Asata, and lead was highest in Abakpa dumpsites. The dry season sequence in decreasing order is as follows: Mn > Ar > Cu > Cd > Pb > Ni > Cr. The heavy metals highest values were recorded in Asata for manganese, Uwani for arsenic and nickel, Abakpa and Uwani for copper, Echara New Layout for cadmium and chromium, and New Haven for lead concentrations. Overall, the study showed that copper levels have strong positive correlations with manganese, lead, arsenic and nickel concentrations. Also, manganese correlated with lead, arsenic and nickel. Cadmium correlated with chromium, while arsenic correlated with nickel. All the metallic correlations were positively strong. Copper and manganese had negative correlations, but that of cadmium was positive. The results obtained in this study showed that the leachates generated from the dumpsites could have harmful impact on the groundwater quality in the study area. This suggested that the surface and groundwater of the study sites are unreliable for drinking purposes, with emphasis on the need to improve on waste management practices and construct properly an engineered leachate collecting system at dumpsites to curtail pollution of surface and/or groundwater. Other implications of the leachate and regimes were also discussed.

Density and Molecular Identification of Tsetse Fly (Diptera: Glossinidae) Species in Selected Local Government Areas of Southern

2020-03-01T00:00:00Z

Density and Molecular Identification of Tsetse Fly (Diptera: Glossinidae) Species in Selected Local Government Areas of Southern Dalla, Chatcham Victor Public health, Veterinary and Food Security is greatly threatened by the scourging menace of tsetse and trypanosomiasis in Africa. Sampling was done in Enugu (Enugu south), Edo (Esan south east) and Delta (Aniocha North) Local Government Areas of Southern Nigeria. The Study was conducted between July and November. Three biconical traps were deployed along gallery forest in each of the study area for 72 hours and recovered intermittently. Harvested samples were subjected to morphological and molecular analysis. Genomic DNA was isolated from the whole tsetse fly using genomic DNA extraction kit. Identification and characterization of tsetse flies were done using cytochrome oxidase I and Internal transcribed spacer. Sequenced data were further subjected to phylogenetic analysis. A total of 61 flies was collected during the survey. The mean number of tsetse collected in relation to traps from Enugu south , Esan south east and Aniocha north were 4.67 ± 5.83 (mean ± standard deviation), 0.11 ± 0.33 and 2 ± 2.65 respectively. Tsetse fly from Enugu south constituted 68.85% with apparent density 4.7 f/t/d compared to 1.64% (0.1f/t/d) and 29.51% (2.0 f/t/d) respectively from Esan south east and Aniocha north. The difference in trappings of tsetse fly from Enugu and Edo was significant based on Kruskal-Walis H test (χ2 = 8.294, df = 2, p = 0.016). Most importantly, Morphological and Molecular identification revealed the predominant species in Southern Nigeria to be Glosinna palpalis palpalis. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that the flies in both regions had a common ancestry as the fell into the same clade. Although, CO1 gene separated flies into two clusters while the ITS1 had a mixed cluster. It is therefore needful to investigate other genetic and nuclear markers that can be utilized in the identification of tsetse fly in the face of speciation due to climate change. The presence of these fly species (G.p.palpalis) in the study community in Enugu state, is a great public health threat as they have been implicated for the endemicity of Human African Trypanosomiasis in South-south region over decade.

Evaluation of Heavy Metals in Public Refuse Dumpsites in Nsukka Metropolis and their Faunal Implications

2018-04-01T00:00:00Z

Evaluation of Heavy Metals in Public Refuse Dumpsites in Nsukka Metropolis and their Faunal Implications Ohanu, Chinenye Maria-Goretti This study assessed the concentrations of lead, chromium, iron, manganese, zinc, cadmium and copper in soil and dumpsite fauna as well as some environmental properties of soils collected from open dumpsites in Nsukka metropolis, Enugu State Nigeria. Sampling was conducted at all the open refuse dumpsites from January to March, 2017 (for dry season collection) and June to August, 2017 (for wet season collection). Soil samples from each of the dump sites were collected randomly at the depth of 15cm and the dumpsite fauna found around each of these dump sites were also sampled. Heavy metals in soil samples and dumpsite fauna were determined using Varian AA240 Atomic Absorption Spectrophometer (AAS). Environmental properties of the soil samples evaluated were soil pH, soil temperature, soil moisture and particle size distribution. Dumpsite fauna composition in the dumpsite, Percentage abundance, diversity, evenness, and richness were calculated using Simpson’s index, Gini-Simpson, Reciprocal Simpson, Shannon-Wiener diversity index, Modified Shannon-Wienner index, Berger-Parker index, McIntosh index, Margalef index, Menhinick index, Hill’s family of numbers, ShePbons index, Heip index, Pielo’s index and Simpson’s index of evenness. Six species of the dumpsite fauna were analyzed for heavy metal accumulation. Bioaccumulation of heavy metals in the dumpsite fauna was evaluated using US EPA Bioaccummulation factor (BAF) formula. Results indicated that the soil samples were moderately acidic ranging from 5.70 to 6.82, soil temperature ranged 25.03 – 29.67oC and moisture content 2.23 – 7.66%. Meanwhile the particle size distribution in the sand contents (40 – 55%) was higher than silt and clay. Throughout the duration of the study, total number of organisms collected from the dumpsites was 3,165. All the fauna collected belong to the following orders: Hymenoptera, Diptera, Orthoptera, Hemiptera, Araneae, Scorpiones, Coleoptera, Anura and Lepidoptera. Musca domestica had the highest number of organisms sampled while Heterometrus sp. was the lowest. Environmental properties of soil and heavy metals concentrations at the dumpsites showed variations both monthly and seasonally. The rank profile of heavy metals in the dumpsites soil was Fe > Zn > Mn > Cu > Cr > Pb > Cd. Among the dumpsites, the heavy metal concentrations was ranked Obimo > Ikenga Hotel > UNN > Obukpa. Among the heavy metals analyzed in the soil samples, Fe had the highest concentration of 21.08 ± 0.01mg/kg from Ikenga Hotel dumpsite while Cd was the lowest heavy metal that occurred (1.15 ± 0.30mg/kg) at UNN dumpsite. Concentrations of heavy metals in the dumpsite fauna ranked Fe > Zn > Mn > Pb > Cd > Cu > Cr for the dry season while the wet season concentrations ranked Fe > Zn > Mn > Cu > Pb > Cr > Cd. Z. variegatus had the highest Fe occurrence (16.04 ± 0.47 mg/kg) among all the dumpsite fauna studied. Rabiosa spp. had the lowest heavy metal occurrence of Cd and Pb (0.00 ± 0.00 mg/kg). The findings of the study showed that the concentrations of heavy metals in soil were generally far below the maximum permissible limits of a soil by Federal Environmental Protection Agency, European Regulatory Standards and United States Environmental Protection Agency standards.

Anti-Malarial Activities of Aqueous Leaf Extract of Pterocarpus Santalinoides on Albino Mice

2018-03-01T00:00:00Z

Anti-Malarial Activities of Aqueous Leaf Extract of Pterocarpus Santalinoides on Albino Mice Ngwu, Mary-Rose This study was designed to evaluate the effects of aqueous leaf extract of Pterocarpus santalinoides “uturukpa” on albino mice experimentally infected with Plasmodium berghei. Randomized complete block design, divided into 12 groups replicated three times with 18 mice in each group was used in this study. This involved two experimental models; curative test (established infection) and suppressive test. The plant crude extract was screened for its phytochemical composition. Twelve (12) albino mice were used for acute toxicity test. A total of two hundred and sixteen (216) experimental animals were used for this study; 108 for curative test and 108 for suppressive test. The doses of P. santalinoides used for the study were 400 mg, 800 mg and 1,600 mg aqueous extract. Leonart (400 mg) was used as standard drug. The albino mice were not treated until parasitaemia was established on the 4th day after the animals were infected for curative model. For suppressive test, the mice were infected and treatments were given immediately after inoculation. The live body weight and temperature of the experimental mice were determined using weighing balance and thermometer respectively. Blood samples from each of the experimental groups were collected using ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) bottles for storage. The packed cell volume (PCV) and haemoglobin count (HB) were determined using haematocrit capillary tube method and Sahli haemaglobinometre respectively while red blood cell count (RBC) and white blood cell count (WBC) were determined using haemocytometre (counting chamber) method. Blood differential counts were also determined. Serum levels of aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total bilirubin (TB), creatinine, urea and lactate dehydrogenase were determined using standard biochemical methods. Statistical analyses of the results were done using student’s t-test and one-way analysis of variance. Means with differences of p values at p < 0.05 were considered significant. The phytochemical results revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, saponins, terpenoids, flavonoids and phenols. Behavioural changes were observed at the different higher doses. There was no record of mortality. The extracts at 400, 800 and 1,600 mg/kg body weight/day reduced (p < 0.05) parasitaemia to 29.47 ± 4.08, 21.90 ± 1.27 and 18.23 ± 0.61 in the curative test as against 46.20 ± 3.36, 50.20 ± 3.75 and 36.47 ± 3.09 for parasitaemia level in 4 days post inoculation. This is in line with the result observed in the standard control. No parasitaemia was recorded in normal control group. Among the extract treated groups, the parasite load decreased significantly (p < 0.05) with increase in extract dose. The parasitaemia level in suppressive group showed no specific pattern of variation with increasing concentration of P. santalinoides extract and duration respectively. Observed result of the initial and final live body weights in the two models were not significantly (p > 0.05) different. There was a duration-dependent decrease (p > 0.05) in body weight in curative groups. The curative test showed a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in temperature in the groups that received 400 and 800 mg/kg of the extract and the standard drug respectively, while the decrease (p < 0.05) was only observed in the group given 1,600 mg/kg body weight of the extract in suppressive test. In the curative group, there was a significant (p < 0.05) reduction and increase in the mean values of the PCV, WBCs and Hb estimations at post infection and post treatment levels respectively. There was no significant (p > 0.05) differences in their differential counts. There was no significant (p > 0.05) effect of the extract on the haematological parameters studied in the suppressive test. There was a significant (p < 0.05) increase at post infection and gradual decrease at post inoculation in biochemical parameters studied in curative test, while in suppressive group, there was significant (p < 0.05) increase in the biochemical parameters, except with the ALT with a (p < 0.05) decrease record. The present study shows that the aqueous extract of P. santalinoides possess antimalarial activity as observed from its ability to suppress P. berghei infection in extract treated groups of albino mice without adverse effect on the haematological and biochemical parameters determined. Thus, the findings lend pharmacological support to the folkloric use of the plant in the treatment of malaria. Further investigations to identify the exact active ingredients responsible for the antimalarial activities of P. santalinoides are recommended.