Fairie circles are everywhere, but for different reasons.
Through satellite images. Fairy circles were discovered in Madagascar in 2023. Again, these patterns appear to be rings of tall grass surrounding a patch of bare soil, They tend to occur in hot, arid areas with poor sandy soil. in Madagascar, they are likely caused by Geological processes involving magma intrusion. which creates circular patterns of harder rock that erode more slowly than the surrounding sediment
In China. In the salt marshes near Shanghai, fairy circles can be found. They are formed by a different mechanism than the grassland fungi rings. Research has shown these coastal fairy circles are formed by the accumulation of toxic sulfide from decomposing plant matter and nutrient depletion in the center of the rings, creating patterns of vegetation. Scientists are studying these patterns to understand the resilience and self-organization of these ecosystems. Field experiments showed that nitrogen fertilization mitigates depletion stress and shifts plant growth from negative to positive in the center of patches. Hence, nutrient depletion plays an overriding role, as only this process can explain the concentric rings. The findings imply that the emergence of transient patterns can identify the ecological processes underlying pattern formation and the factors determining the ecological resilience of salt marsh ecosystems.
Fairie Circles are polka dots of bare earth, regularly scattered across arid grasslands. Scientists first described fairy circles in Namibia in the 1970s and sparked a global debate in the scientific community about the causes of the phenomenon.
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Naminian Fairie Circles were proven to NOT be caused by termited but in Australia a study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, “they show what our Aboriginal coauthors have always known – that fairy circles in the Western Deserts of Australia are flat, hard “pavements” inhabited by spinifex termites”.
The Aboriginal people for thousands of years have known that the round circles can hold water. The flat, hard linyji are used to prepare foods, they can become ephemeral sources of water andthey provide abundant and rich sour ces of food, and have deep spiritual significance.
The growth of so much grass in such a harsh environment is impressive, but also mysterious. The grassland is dotted by millions of strange circles, each devoid of grass or other vegetation, that together form an eerie polka-dot pattern of “fairy circles” across the landscape.
Located 80 to 140 kilometers (50 to 87 miles) inland from Namibia’s coast, this zone of circular gaps in the grassland is visible from miles around. They are six to 10 feet long. They are symmetrically placed about 10 feet apart.
One theory contends the circles are caused by termites feasting on roots, while the other suggests the grasses self-organize to maximize water availability. Studies have lent credence to each theory, and some research has indicated both termites and self-organization may be behind the fairy circles. Except the same circles have appeared in Australia where the are no termites.
In namib. There are fairy circles in 10 different regions within the desert. Grasses do sometimes appear within the fairy circles right after it rains, but they typically die soon after, the researchers note, while grass between the circles survives.
Scientists studied the circumstances around dying grass after rainfall, and set up soil-moisture sensors in and around fairy circles to record data at half-hour intervals, beginning in the dry season of 2020 and continuing until the end of 2022’s rainy season.
Ten days after rainfall, the interior of the fairy circles had very little new growth, the study found, and what new grass had sprouted was already dying. Twenty days after rainfall, any grass inside the circles was dead, while surrounding grass was “green and soft.”
Roots from dead grass inside the circles were as long – or even longer than – roots from outside the circles, suggesting the plants were investing heavily in root growth to search for water. The researchers did not find evidence of termites feeding on the roots, Termites are not responsible because the grasses die immediately after rainfall without any sign of creatures feeding on the root.
The real reason is yet another example of our amazing earth. Water in soil diffuses quickly and horizontally in these sands even over distances greater than seven meters. This is an incredible example of “ecohydrological feedback,” the researchers write, in which the barren circles essentially become reservoirs that help sustain grasses at the edges.
“We know related self-organized vegetation structures from various other harsh drylands in the world, and in all those cases the plants have no other chance to survive except by growing exactly in such geometrical formations.”
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