Mysterious 'Fairy Circles' Discovered on Three Continents Puzzle Scientists
Researchers unveil global study of enigmatic 'fairy circle' vegetation patterns, shedding light on their ecology and distribution across arid regions.
Table of Contents (Show / Hide)
In a perplexing natural phenomenon, enigmatic ring-like patterns of vegetation, known as 'fairy circles,' have emerged in arid landscapes of Namibia and Australia, confounding scientists for decades. A groundbreaking new research effort seeks to unravel the mysteries behind these peculiar formations and explore their distribution worldwide.
A team led by environmental scientist Emilio Guirado from the University of Alicante in Spain embarked on a comprehensive global assessment of fairy circle-like vegetation patterns, revealing the existence of hundreds of similar locations on three continents.
Understanding 'Fairy Circles'
Fairy circles are unexplained circular patterns of vegetation that manifest in otherwise barren terrains in Namibia and Australia. The recent global assessment has identified a total of 263 sites featuring these enigmatic formations, spread across three continents and 15 countries, including regions in Sahel, Madagascar, and Middle-West Asia.
Key Insights from the Study
The research offers valuable insights into the ecology and biogeography of these intriguing vegetation patterns, presenting the world's first atlas of their global distribution. Emilio and his team conducted a meticulous survey employing high-resolution satellite imagery and machine learning to analyze 574,799 hectare-sized land plots worldwide. This painstaking effort significantly expanded the atlas of fairy circle sites.
"Our analyses revealed 263 locations with [fairy-circle]-like vegetation patterns distributed across dry lands worldwide," they report.
This newfound knowledge holds the potential to narrow down the causes of fairy circles. The researchers pinpointed common characteristics shared by all sites featuring these formations, including an extremely arid desert environment, high temperatures with pronounced precipitation seasonality, and nutrient-poor, sandy soil.
Intriguingly, the study also observed that areas with fairy circles exhibited more stable vegetation productivity over time compared to surrounding regions without these formations. Emilio and his colleagues suggest that these findings can aid in identifying region-specific factors contributing to the emergence of fairy circles.
"The global atlas introduced here advances our understanding of the biogeography of fairy circle-like vegetation patterns and will facilitate conducting future research about the characteristics and mechanisms underlying these enigmatic vegetation patterns in locations never studied so far," they conclude.
URL :
News ID : 2508
SpaceX accused of fostering repeated sexual abuse on its employees
Why Planes Fly Over the North Pole but Not the South Pole
Japan’s first private solid-fuelled rocket exploded shortly after launch
China Counters Cyberattack Accusations from US and UK
Microsoft enhances availability of its AI-powered cybersecurity support
Are You Immune Against Every Disease?
How We Found Earth's Location in the Milky Way?
The mystery of Stonehenge!
Discover 7 Medical Geniuses: Their Incredible Stories
Major sports events of 2022
