Mysterious “myth circles” have been identified in hundreds of locations around the world, a new study says

The results showed 263 dryland sites where circular patterns similar to the imaginary circles in Namibia and Australia existed. These arid regions were distributed throughout Africa (the Sahel, Western Sahara and the Horn of Africa) and were also clustered in Madagascar and western Central Asia, as well as central and southwestern Australia.

Fairy circles aren’t the only natural phenomenon that can produce round, repeating spots in a landscape. One factor that distinguishes fairy circles from other types of vegetation gaps is the presence of a strongly organized pattern between the circles, said Dr. Stefan Getzen, a researcher in the Department of Ecosystem Modeling at the University of Göttingen in Germany.

Getzen and colleagues published a paper in November 2021 Definition of imaginary circles And what made it unique, focusing on the details of the overall style structure, he told CNN in an email. According to Getzen, who was not involved in the latest study, the newly discovered patterns are insufficient.

“Imaginary circuits are defined by the fact that, in principle, Ability to form a “spatial periodic” pattern.which is “significantly tidier” than the other patterns — and none of the patterns in the survey exceeded that high threshold, Getzen said.

But in reality, there is no universally accepted definition of imaginary circles, Girado said. He and his colleagues identified potential chimeric circuits — by measuring the size and shape of individual circuits, as well as the patterns they form collectively — by referring to guidelines established across several published studies. The scales of those spatial patterns, in the old and new fantasy circuits, are “about the same,” he said.

Of the new locations identified, some have succeeded in gaining approval from Dr Fiona Walsh, who as part of an international team investigated fairy circles in the Australian outback. “The distribution of patterns in Australia appears to be consistent with some of what we have previously reported,” Walsh said. An ethnomethodologist at the University of Western Australia. Walsh did not participate in the new poll.

The study authors also compiled environmental data where the circles were observed, collecting evidence that might hint at what causes their formation. The researchers determined that the fairy circle-like patterns were more likely to occur in very dry, sandy soils that were high in alkalinity and low in nitrogen. Scientists also found that the fairy circle-like patterns helped stabilize ecosystems, increasing the region’s resistance to disturbances such as floods or severe drought.

But the question “What constitutes imaginary circles?” The study’s authors report that the matter is complex, and that the factors that create fairy circles may vary from location to location. Getzen previously wrote that certain climatic conditions, coupled with self-regulation in plants, generated fairy circles in Namibia, and while insects like termites take advantage of dry spots, their activities do not directly produce the patterns, he said in the email. .

However, Walsh said fairy circles in Australia were closely linked to termite activity. Their team researchConducted in close collaboration with Aboriginal people, she said termites in Western Australia and in the Northern Territory are integral to the operation of fairy circles, called “linyji” in the Manyjilyjarra language, and “mingkirri” in the Warlpiri language. CNN in an email.

“Indigenous people have been explaining these patterns since at least the 1980s, and said they have known them for generations, perhaps thousands of years,” Walsh said.

“In Australia, termites don’t just play a role,” she added. “It is the basic mechanism and explanations should focus on termite, grass, soil and water dynamics.”

Many questions about the fairy circles still need to be answered, and the authors of the new study are optimistic that their global atlas will open a new chapter in the study of these strange barren spots.

“We hope that the information we publish in the paper will provide scientists around the world with new areas of study that will solve new mysteries in the formation of chimeric circuit patterns,” Girado said.

Mindy Weisberger is a science writer and media producer whose work has appeared in Live Science, Scientific American, and How It Works.