Mysterious circles made of plants could so far be admired in the deserts of Namibia and Australia, where, contrary to appearances, they are quite common. Scientists who decided to investigate the unusual phenomenon reached surprising conclusions. “Fairy circles” occur in as many as 263 places in 15 countries. Additionally, they can be found on three different continents, including: in Central-West Asia. It is known that the phenomenon occurs in many places, but what factors influence their occurrence? According to the website, it seems that the mystery has finally been solved.
Scientists have discovered new places where “fairy circles” occur
Until now, circular patterns several meters in diameter surrounded by grass were thought to occur only in two regions. A Spanish research team led by Emilio Guirado from the University of Alicante decided to delve deeper into the topic. Using very high resolution satellite images and the help of artificial intelligence machine learning, experts analyzed approximately 574,799 hectares of land around the world. The data collected led to the discovery that “fairy circles” occur in 263 different areas. Apart from Australia and Namibia, they can also be found in the Sahara, the northern part of Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan and Madagascar, reports the scientific journal “”.
Based on the collected data, the group of researchers determined that the circles are formed in environments with specific soil conditions, i.e. where there is a low content of nutrients and a high content of sand. The climate also plays an important role. The circles have been observed where the weather is dry and high, and rainfall occurs only seasonally. As the scientific portal writes, termites may also have an impact on the phenomenon.
Scientists believe that their research will allow for further knowledge in this field and will contribute to determining the specific causes of the formation of “fairy circles”. “Global atlas presented in the study [występowania “kręgów wróżek” – red.] deepens our understanding of the biogeography of fairy wheel-like vegetation patterns and will facilitate future research on the features and mechanisms underlying these enigmatic vegetation patterns in locations that have not been studied before,” the experts noted.
Source: Gazeta
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