Conversion of rangelands into cultivated land is one of the main challenges affecting the management of rangelands in Ethiopia. In order to inform policy makers about trends in land-use conversion, this study examined the drivers, trends, and impacts of land conversions in five locations selected in the Borana rangelands of Southern Ethiopia. This study integrated survey interviews from agro-pastoralists, participatory appraisals, rainfall data, and remotely sensed satellite data from Landsat images taken in 1985 and 2011. Results indicate that there is a marked increase in cultivated land in some of the study sites while in the other sites there is a slight reduction. The bare lands increased in some parts of the study sites though there was slight recovery of grassland in some of the degraded areas. Settlement areas with permanent housing increased. Woodland vegetation decreased except on mountain escarpments where there were slight gains. The results further show that, during this period, bushland decreased while at the same time grassland increased. Shrub/grassland with seasonally flooded areas increased in the bottomlands. Inhabitants interviewed in the study areas perceived land use and land cover changes to be driven by interplay of recurrent drought, loss of pasture, food insecurity, and decline in income. Changes in policies that govern natural resources have influence the land use change in this area and the expansion of cultivation. Expansion of cultivation practices upon rangelands has resulting in significant loss of vegetation biomass and soil erosion, thereby precipitating rangeland degradation. The results provide comprehensive insights regarding the influence of internal and external drivers of land conversion that should be considered when making decisions for land use planning.

Acanthoscelides obtectus (Say) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) is an economically important pest of common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris L. (Fabaceae), in the tropics and subtropics. The larvae are cryptic and spend most of their development time inside the bean seeds. Their presence is almost imperceptible except for circular emergence holes created by the last instar larvae in preparation for their exit as adults. We considered a hypothesis that readily available acoustic detection devices can be used to detect larvae and adults in stored beans. Laboratory experiments were conducted in an anechoic chamber to characterize the sounds of movement and feeding and estimate whether they could be distinguished from background noise in storage environments. The larvae produced low-amplitude insect sound impulses frequently occurring in trains (bursts) of 2 or more impulses (mean = 3.6). The adults produced lower-amplitude impulses, although at a higher rate than the larvae, and there were significantly fewer im... Resumen Acanthoscelides obtectus (Say) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) es una plaga económicamente importante del frijol común Phaseolus vulgaris L. (Fabaceae) en los trópicos y subtrópicos. Las larvas son crípticas y pasan la mayor parte de su tiempo de desarrollo dentro de las semillas de frijol. Su presencia es casi imperceptible a excepción de los agujeros circulares de salida creados por las larvas del último instar cuando salen como adultos. Se consideró una hipótesis de que los medios acústicos fácilmente disponibles pueden ser utilizados para detectar larvas y adultos en frijoles almacenados. Se realizaron experimentos de laboratorio con una cámara anecoica para caracterizar sus movimientos y sonidos de alimentación y estimar si se podían distinguir del ruido de fondo en entornos de almacenamiento. Las larvas producían impulsos sonoros de insectos de baja amplitud que ocurrían frecuentemente en trenes (ráfagas) de 2 o más impulsos (promedio = 3.6). Los adultos mostraron impulsos de baja amplitud, aunq...

Grain production is an important component of food security in Kenya but due to environmental conditions that favor rapid growth of insect populations, farmers and other agricultural stakeholders face ongoing and novel challenges from crop and stored product pest insects. To assist development of methods to reduce economic losses from stored product insect pests in Kenya, acoustic, visual, and pitfall trap surveys were conducted in five grain storage warehouses. Two commercially available acoustic systems successfully detected the pests of greatest economic importance, Sitophilus zeamais (Motschulsky) and Prostephanus truncatus (Horn). Other insects of lesser economic importance also were observed in the visual surveys, including Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), and Tribolium castaneum (Herbst). This study demonstrated that the use of acoustic technology with visual surveys and pitfall traps can help managers to identify and target infestations within their warehouses, enabling them to reduce postharvest losses. With most warehouses being located in relatively noisy urban or peri-urban areas, background noise considerations are being incorporated into the design of future acoustic detectors for stored pest infestations. Kenya must import grain yearly to meet consumption needs; however, if the current yearly postharvest losses of 20–30% in warehouses decreased, import costs could be reduced considerably.

The authors wish to add the following amendments and corrections to their paper published in Environments [1].