mystery fairy circles (circular plant formations often seen in African deserts) are one of the unsolved mysteries of global ecosystems. Until now they were thought to exist only in Africa and Australia, but Spanish scientists from CSIC have shown, through a study applying new techniques, that they are actually distributed all over the world.
These mysterious circular patterns are some of the most mysterious natural formations that can be observed in the arid regions of our planet. These are circles of bare earth surrounded by rings of plants.So far it has only been identified in the desert regions of Namibia and Australia. Numerous hypotheses have been put forward over the years to explain their formation, leading to much debate about the mechanisms that cause them. However, until this moment, the global extent of such events and the environmental factors explaining them were unknown.
According to the magazine Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Collecting the results of the study through (PNAS) satellite imagery and artificial intelligence It has been possible to identify these unique plant patterns. The world’s 263 desert regions spread across 15 countries on three continents. Therefore it is a common phenomenon. The regions where they have been detected include places as diverse as the Sahel, Western Sahara, Madagascar, the Horn of Africa or Southwest Asia.
A form of biological self-organization
Research made it possible to confirm these plant circles They are formed by the combination of certain characteristics of the soil and climate.. This is the conclusion after analyzing climatic factors such as the average annual rainfall, the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil, as well as the nitrogen content of the soil in which they are located.
So in these areas, which are often desert, the vegetation will be organized through these regular patterns in the form of patches or spots. optimizing the scarce nutrients and water resources available in these regions. Therefore, it is a survival strategy in a hostile environment. This description does not exclude additional explanations that may be complementary.
The first fairy rings were found in the desert region of Namibia in 1971, but similar formations were later found in Australia’s Western Desert. Early hypotheses included the influence of termites in the formation of these circles, among other possibilities. This has now happened with the work done CSIC showed that these circles are not specific to one or two regions of the planet, but to many deserts.
The researchers found that a combination of certain soil and climate characteristics, such as low nitrogen content and average rainfall of less than 200 mm per year, could explain the existence of fairy circles. Among these formations, termites and ants were of little importance. But, On a regional scale, termites were a more important factor in Namibia than in regions such as the Sahel or Australia.. “This study took into account many variables that have not been taken into account to date, such as albedo or the state of the aquifers,” he notes. Jaime Martínez-Valderrama, scientist at the Arid Regions Experimental Station (EEZA-CSIC) and co-author of the study.
“These results also open the door to research into whether these spatial patterns, like other spatial patterns of vegetation in arid regions, could be indicators of the degradation of ecosystems with climate change,” says Miguel Berdugo. co-authors of the publication.
Reference work: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2304032120
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