Reuben Garshong | University of North Carolina at Greensboro (original) (raw)

Papers by Reuben Garshong

Emerging Infectious Diseases, Aug 1, 2023

Despite serving as a teaching, research and biodiversity conservation facility for over 60 years,... more Despite serving as a teaching, research and biodiversity conservation facility for over 60 years, the faunal composition at the University of Ghana Botanical Garden (UGBG) is virtually unknown. This study documents the richness, abundance, diversity, distribution and conservation status of small mammals at the UGBG. The methodology involved live-trapping using Sherman live-traps. Overall, 39 individuals belonging to three mammalian orders (Rodentia, Soricomorpha and Erinaceomorpha) and seven species, comprising of four rodents, two shrews and one hedgehog were recorded in 1,080 trap-nights. Overall trapping success and species diversity (Shannon-Wiener H’ and Simpson’s 1-D) indices were therefore 3.61%, 1.59 and 0.76, respectively. Species richness and diversity were highest (four species; Hʹ = 1.33, 1-D = 0.72) in shrubland and lowest (two species; Hʹ = 0.48, 1-D = 0.3) in grassland. Overlaps of species among the study sites were low, with C. olivieri being the only species common to all sites. Crocidura olivieri was the most abundant species (41.2%) in the forest, whereas M. erythroleucus dominated (81.3%) in the grassland. Arvicanthis niloticus solatus and C. oliviera were equally abundant in shrubland. Arvicanthis n. solatus, P. daltoni, C. oliviera, C. foxi and A. albiventris are first records for the Accra Plains. These records add to the species list for the Accra Plains, and highlight the importance of the UGBG to small mammal zoogeography and conservation in Ghana.

Microorganisms

Chiggers are vectors of rickettsial pathogenic bacteria, Orientia spp., that cause the human dise... more Chiggers are vectors of rickettsial pathogenic bacteria, Orientia spp., that cause the human disease, scrub typhus, in the Asian–Pacific area and northern Australia (known as the Tsutsugamushi Triangle). More recently, reports of scrub typhus in Africa, southern Chile, and the Middle East have reshaped our understanding of the epidemiology of this disease, indicating it has a broad geographical distribution. Despite the growing number of studies and discoveries of chigger-borne human disease outside of the Tsutsugamushi Triangle, rickettsial pathogens in chigger mites in the US are still undetermined. The aim of our study was to investigate possible Rickettsia DNA in chiggers collected from rodents in North Carolina, USA. Of 46 chiggers tested, 47.8% tested positive for amplicons of the 23S-5S gene, 36.9% tested positive for 17 kDa, and 15.2% tested positive for gltA. Nucleotide sequence analyses of the Rickettsia-specific 23S-5S intergenic spacer (IGS), 17 kDa, and gltA gene fragme...

Wetlands (Wilmington, N.C.), Nov 28, 2018

Wetland construction can mitigate the biodiversity and water quality losses associated with reduc... more Wetland construction can mitigate the biodiversity and water quality losses associated with reduced natural wetland coverage. While beneficial effects of wetland construction for bats have been observed in natural and rural settings, the effects of wetland construction on bats in an urban ecosystem are less understood. We used passive acoustic monitoring to measure bat activity levels and diversity at two constructed wetlands and two control sites on the University of North Carolina Greensboro campus, in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA. We monitored all 4 sites before and after wetland construction. Pre-wetland construction, there were few differences in bat activity and community structure at our sites. After wetland construction, we observed greater activity, attributable to all species we recorded, at wetland sites compared to control sites. Species diversity and species richness were also higher at wetland sites compared to control sites. When comparing the same sites before and...

Journal of mammalogy, 2018

Species reside in dynamic environments, simultaneously experiencing variations in climatic condit... more Species reside in dynamic environments, simultaneously experiencing variations in climatic conditions, habitat availability and quality, interspecific interactions, and anthropogenic pressures. We investigated variation in foraging ecology of the small mammal community between land-use classifications (i.e., protected national parks and unprotected lands abutting them) in Mole National Park (MNP) and Digya National Park (DNP), representing distinct ecoregions of Ghana. In 5,064 trap nights, we sampled 153 individuals of 23 species within the 2 national parks and adjacent lands outside protected boundaries to describe variation in community composition. We also used δ C and δ N isotopic ratios from fresh feces to determine main effects and interactions between land use and ecoregion on trophic structure in species and communities of small mammals. Small mammals exhibited distinct community assemblages between ecoregions (i.e., national parks): , , , , , and were only captured in the ...

Wetlands, 2018

Information on the small mammal communities of the Owabi Wildlife Sanctuary is virtually non-exis... more Information on the small mammal communities of the Owabi Wildlife Sanctuary is virtually non-existent despite their role in forest ecosystems. A total of 1,500 trap-nights yielded 121 individuals of rodents and shrews, comprising five species: Praomys tullbergi, Lophuromys sikapusi, Hybomys trivirgatus, Malacomys edwardsi and Crocidura buettikoferi, captured in Sherman traps using 20 × 20 m grids. P. tullbergi was the most common small mammal species in all the four habitat types surveyed, comprising 63.6% of the total number of individual small mammals captured. The Cassia-Triplochiton forest had 61.2% of the entire small mammal individuals captured, and was the only habitat type that harboured higher abundances of the rare small mammal species in the sanctuary (H. trivirgatus and M. edwardsi). It also showed dissimilarity in small mammal species richness and abundance by recording a Sǿrenson's similarity index of less than half in comparison with the other three habitat types....

The study investigated the effect of real estate development on small mammal diversity and abunda... more The study investigated the effect of real estate development on small mammal diversity and abundance in order to inform town planners during their decision-making process. Small mammals were used because they are relatively easy to survey and serve as bio-indicators that provide knowledge on the state of health of the habitat in which they inhabit. The University of Ghana Campus, Legon (UGCL) was divided into two sites: built-up area and the botanical garden, which is less developed. The small mammals were live-trapped using Sherman traps in May 2009 for seven nights by means of transect in the two study sites, using a mixture of peanut butter and corn meal as the preferred bait. The 350 trap-nights yielded 68 captures of five species of small mammals. They were (i) Pygmy mouse (Mus musculoides), (ii) Unstriped grass rat (Arvicanthis niloticus), (iii) Tullberg’s soft-furred rat (Praomys tullbergi), (iv) African giant shrew (Crocidura olivieri) and (v) White-bellied hedgehog (Ateleri...

Asian Journal of Applied Sciences, 2013

This study investigated aspects of the ecology (sex-ratio, age structure and reproductivecharacte... more This study investigated aspects of the ecology (sex-ratio, age structure and reproductivecharacteristics) of four rodent species in the Owabi Wildlife Sanctuary (OWS). Collapsible Sherman live traps (22.5 x8.8 x 7.5 cm) were used to capture the rodent species in 12 grids, measuring 20 × 20 m and covering different habitattypes identified in the sanctuary from October, 2009 to April, 2010. Trapping effort covered 1,500 trap-nights and 119individuals belonging to four species were captured. There were 77 individuals of Praomys tullbergi (Tullberg’s softfurredrat), 16 were Lophuromys sikapusi (Rusty-bellied brush-furred mouse) and 13 were Hybomys trivirgatus(Temminck’s hump-nosed mouse) and Malacomys edwardsi (Edward’s long-footed rat), with male-to-female ratios of1.5:1, 1.7:1, 1:1.6 and 2.3:1 respectively. Adults dominated in the age structure of all the rodents captured. All the 50adult males of the four rodents were in reproductive condition. Of the adult females, 5.6% of P. tullbe...

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment

Animals

In the urban environment, wildlife faces novel human disturbances in unique temporal patterns. Th... more In the urban environment, wildlife faces novel human disturbances in unique temporal patterns. The weekend effect describes that human activities on weekends trigger changes in the environment and impact wildlife negatively. Reduced occurrence, altered behaviors, and/or reduced fitness have been found in birds, ungulates, and meso-carnivores due to the weekend effect. We aimed to investigate if urban bat activity would differ on weekends from weekdays. We analyzed year-round bat acoustic monitoring data collected from two sites near the city center and two sites in the residential area/park complex in the city periphery. We constructed generalized linear models and found that bat activity was significantly lower on weekends as compared to weekdays during spring and summer at the site in the open space near the city center. In contrast, during the same seasons, the sites in the city periphery showed increased bat activity on weekends. Hourly bat activity overnight suggested that bats...