Strong interaction between plants induces circular barren patches: fairy circles

Fairy circles consist of isolated or randomly distributed circular areas devoid of any vegetation. They are observed in vast territories in southern Angola, Namibia and South Africa. We report on the formation of fairy circles, and we interpret them as localized structures with a varying plateau size as a function of the aridity. Their stabilization mechanism is attributed to a combined influence of the bistability between the bare state and the uniformly vegetation state, and Lorentzian-like non-local coupling that models the competition between plants. We show how a circular shape is formed, and how the aridity level influences the size of fairy circles. Finally, we show that the proposed mechanism is model-independent.

• Publication year

  2013

• Venue

  Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences

• Publication date

  2013-06-20

• Fields of study

  Biology, Physics, Geology, Environmental Science, Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1098/rsta.2014.0009arXiv 1306.4848PMID 25246685
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Case Study of Self-Organized Vegetation Patterning in Dryland Regions of Central Africa

  2014cited by this paper
• The Biological Underpinnings of Namib Desert Fairy Circles

  2013cited by this paper
• Vegetation pattern formation in semiarid systems without facilitative mechanisms

  2013cited by this paper
• Are Namibian “Fairy Circles” the Consequence of Self-Organizing Spatial Vegetation Patterning?

  2013cited by this paper
• Formation of localized structures in bistable systems through nonlocal spatial coupling. II. The nonlocal Ginzburg-Landau equation.

  2013cited by this paper
• Formation of localized structures in bistable systems through nonlocal spatial coupling. I. General framework.

  2013cited by this paper
• Strong nonlocal coupling stabilizes localized structures: an analysis based on front dynamics.

  2013cited by this paper
• History-dependent patterns of whole ecosystems

  2013cited by this paper
• A quantitative theory of vegetation patterns based on plant structure and the non-local F–KPP equation

  2012cited by this paper
• The Life Cycle and Life Span of Namibian Fairy Circles

  2012cited by this paper
• Ants and the enigmatic Namibian fairy circles – cause and effect?

  2012cited by this paper
• Pattern formation via intermittence from microscopic deterministic dynamics.

  2012cited by this paper
• Spatial patterns in mesic savannas: the local facilitation limit and the role of demographic stochasticity.

  2012cited by this paper
• Evidence for a geochemical origin of the mysterious circles in the Pro-Namib desert

  2011cited by this paper
• Noise-Induced Phenomena in the Environmental Sciences

  2011cited by this paper
• Non-local defect interaction in one-dimension: weak versus strong non-locality

  2011cited by this paper
• Competitive Brownian and Lévy walkers.

  2011cited by this paper
• Nonlocality-induced front-interaction enhancement.

  2010cited by this paper
• The Foraging Tunnel System of the Namibian Desert Termite, Baucaliotermes hainesi

  2010cited by this paper
• Analytical studies of fronts, colonies, and patterns: Combination of the Allee effect and nonlocal competition interactions.

  2010cited by this paper
• Deeply gapped vegetation patterns: on crown/root allometry, criticality and desertification.

  2009influential reference
• Self-Replication and Localized Structures Interaction in a Nonlocal Model of Population Dynamics

  2009cited by this paper
• On Vegetation Clustering, Localized Bare Soil Spots and Fairy Circles

  2008cited by this paper
• Mysterious circles in the Namib Desert.

  2008cited by this paper
• Spatial decoupling of facilitation and competition at the origin of gapped vegetation patterns.

  2008cited by this paper
• Dissipative solitons : from optics to biology and medicine

  2008cited by this paper
• Experimental reconstruction of nonlocal response of thermal nonlinear optical media.

  2007cited by this paper
• Localized structures in dryland vegetation: forms and functions.

  2007cited by this paper
• Impact of nonlocal interactions in dissipative systems: Towards minimal-sized localized structures

  2007cited by this paper
• Multipole vector solitons in nonlocal nonlinear media.

  2006cited by this paper
• Stable solitons of even and odd parities supported by competing nonlocal nonlinearities.

  2006cited by this paper
• Experimental study of the nonlocality of spatial optical solitons excited in nematic liquid crystal

  2006cited by this paper
• Patterns and localized structures in population dynamics.

  2005cited by this paper
• Measurement of the self-induced waveguide of a solitonlike optical beam in a nematic liquid crystal

  2005cited by this paper
• An Analysis of Vegetation Stripe Formation in Semi-Arid Landscapes

  2005cited by this paper
• Ecosystem engineers: from pattern formation to habitat creation.

  2004influential reference
• Vegetation spots and stripes: Dissipative structures in arid landscapes

  2004cited by this paper
• Mysterious circles in the Namib Desert: review of hypotheses on their origin

  2004cited by this paper
• Self-Organized Patchiness and Catastrophic Shifts in Ecosystems

  2004cited by this paper
• South African Journal of Botany

  2003cited by this paper
• Clustering, advection, and patterns in a model of population dynamics with neighborhood-dependent rates.

  2003cited by this paper
• Rotating spiral waves with phase-randomized core in nonlocally coupled oscillators.

  2003cited by this paper
• Nonlocal interaction effects on pattern formation in population dynamics.

  2003cited by this paper
• Fluctuations impact on a pattern-forming model of population dynamics with non-local interactions

  2003cited by this paper
• Collapse arrest and soliton stabilization in nonlocal nonlinear media.

  2002cited by this paper
• Localized vegetation patches: a self-organized response to resource scarcity.

  2002cited by this paper
• The fairy circles of Kaokoland (Northwest Namibia) – is the harvester termite Hodotermes mossambicus the prime causal factor in circle formation?

  2002cited by this paper
• Origin of the enigmatic, circular, barren patches ('Fairy Rings') of the pro-Namib.

  2001cited by this paper
• Diversity of vegetation patterns and desertification.

  2001cited by this paper
• Modulational instability in nonlocal nonlinear Kerr media.

  2001cited by this paper
• The fairy circles of Kaokoland (North-West Namibia) - origin, distribution, and characteristics

  2000influential reference
• Regular and irregular patterns in semiarid vegetation

  1999cited by this paper
• A model for the explanation of vegetation stripes (tiger bush)

  1999cited by this paper
• Multiaffine chemical turbulence

  1998cited by this paper
• On the origin of tiger bush

  1997influential reference
• Localized structures and localized patterns in optical bistability.

  1994cited by this paper
• Hydrodynamic and interfacial patterns with broken space-time symmetry.

  1991cited by this paper
• Response of shortgrass plains vegetation to gamma radiation—III. Nine years of chronic irradiation

  1987cited by this paper
• Pattern in Vegetation

  1979cited by this paper
• Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences is currently published by The Royal

  1951cited by this paper
• THE USE OF MULTIPLE MEASUREMENTS IN TAXONOMIC PROBLEMS

  1936cited by this paper
• The Biological Underpinnings of Namib Desert Fairy Circles

  year unknowncited by this paper

• Exploring the regime shifts of dryland vegetation under climate change: A case study of the Altay, Xinjiang

  2025cites this paper
• Polarization Faticons: Chiral Localized Structures in Self-Defocusing Kerr Resonators.

  2025cites this paper
• Multistability shifts in an aird vegetation system with nonlocal water absorption effect

  2025cites this paper
• Fairy circle research: Status, controversies and the way forward

  2025cites this paper
• Namibian fairy circles: Hostile territory for soil nematodes

  2025cites this paper
• Structure of random Turing-like patterns in discrete-time systems is determined by the initial conditions.

  2025cites this paper
• How do productivity gradient and diffusion shape patterns in a plant-herbivore grazing system?

  2024cites this paper
• Transition and coexistence of Turing pattern, Turing-like pattern and spiral waves in a discrete-time predator–prey model

  2024cites this paper
• Spatial patterning and species coexistence: A case study using concentric circular vegetation patches in saline land.

  2024cites this paper
• Fairy circles and temporal periodic patterns in the delayed plant-sulfide feedback model.

  2024cites this paper
• Nonreciprocal feedback induces migrating oblique and horizontal banded vegetation patterns in hyperarid landscapes

  2024cites this paper
• Turing-like patterns induced by the competition between two stable states in a discrete-time predator–prey model

  2024cites this paper
• Role of herbivory in shaping the dryland vegetation ecosystem: Linking spiral vegetation patterns and nonlinear, nonlocal grazing.

  2023cites this paper
• The global biogeography and environmental drivers of fairy circles

  2023cites this paper
• Effect of heterogeneous environmental conditions on labyrinthine vegetation patterns.

  2023cites this paper
• Self-organized sulfide-driven traveling pulses shape seagrass meadows

  2023cites this paper
• Recognition of ecological vegetation fairy circles in intertidal salt marshes from UAV LiDAR point clouds

  2022cites this paper
• Chaos, Solitons and Fractals

  2022cites this paper
• Effect of nonlocal grazing on dry-land vegetation dynamics.

  2022cites this paper
• Vegetation covers phase separation in inhomogeneous environments

  2022cites this paper
• Transitions between dissipative localized structures in the simplified Gilad-Meron model for dryland plant ecology.

  2022cites this paper
• Fronts connecting stripe patterns with a uniform state: Zigzag coarsening dynamics, and pinning effect

  2022cites this paper
• Existence of localised radial patterns in a model for dryland vegetation

  2021cites this paper
• Integrating theory and experiments to link local mechanisms and ecosystem-level consequences of vegetation patterns in drylands

  2021cites this paper
• Fairy circles reveal the resilience of self-organized salt marshes

  2021cites this paper
• Ginzburg-Landau amplitude equation for nonlinear nonlocal models.

  2021cites this paper
• Spatial self-organization of vegetation in water-limited systems: mechanistic causes, empirical tests, and ecosystem-level consequences

  2021cites this paper
• A Reduced Swift-Hohenberg Style Model for Vegetation Patterns in Drylands

  2021cites this paper
• Definition of “fairy circles” and how they differ from other common vegetation gaps and plant rings

  2021cites this paper
• High-resolution images and drone-based LiDAR reveal striking patterns of vegetation gaps in a wooded spinifex grassland of Western Australia

  2021cites this paper
• Belowground feedbacks as drivers of spatial self-organization and community assembly.

  2021cites this paper
• Patchy landscapes in arid environments: Nonlinear analysis of the interaction-redistribution model.

  2020cites this paper
• Patterns, localized structures and fronts in a reduced model of clonal plant growth

  2020cites this paper
• The existence of localized vegetation patterns in a systematically reduced model for dryland vegetation

  2020cites this paper
• On the repulsive interaction between localised vegetation patches in scarce environments

  2020cites this paper
• Influence of stimulated Raman scattering on Kerr domain walls and localized structures

  2020cites this paper
• Bridging ecology and physics: Australian fairy circles regenerate following model assumptions on ecohydrological feedbacks

  2020cites this paper
• Interaction between vegetation patches and gaps: A self-organized response to water scarcity

  2020cites this paper
• Localized structures in dispersive and doubly resonant optical parametric oscillators.

  2019cites this paper
• Multistability in Ecosystems: Concerns and Opportunities for Ecosystem Function in Variable Environments

  2019cites this paper
• Gapped vegetation patterns: Crown/root allometry and snaking bifurcation

  2019cites this paper
• Formation of localized states in dryland vegetation: Bifurcation structure and stability.

  2019cites this paper
• Continuum Modeling of Discrete Plant Communities: Why Does It Work and Why Is It Advantageous?

  2019cites this paper
• Single-species fragmentation: The role of density-dependent feedback.

  2019cites this paper
• Spiral vegetation patterns in high-altitude wetlands

  2019cites this paper
• Implications of tristability in pattern-forming ecosystems.

  2018cites this paper
• A Model of Vegetation Cover in Conditions of Resource Scarcity: Fairy Rings in Namibia

  2018cites this paper
• From scale-dependent feedbacks to long-range competition alone: a short review on pattern-forming mechanisms in arid ecosystems

  2018cites this paper
• Targeted Recovery as an Effective Strategy against Epidemic Spreading

  2017cites this paper
• Strategies for the growth of large-scale self-organized structures

  2017cites this paper
• A theoretical foundation for multi-scale regular vegetation patterns

  2017cites this paper
• Extended patchy ecosystems may increase their total biomass through self-replication

  2017cites this paper
• Edaphic properties enable facilitative and competitive interactions resulting in fairy circle formation

  2017cites this paper
• Ecohydrological interactions within “fairy circles” in the Namib Desert: Revisiting the self‐organization hypothesis

  2017cites this paper
• Fairy circle landscapes under the sea

  2017cites this paper
• An impulsive modelling framework of fire occurrence in a size-structured model of tree–grass interactions for savanna ecosystems

  2016cites this paper
• Hamster Two Scale Dependent Feedback as a Model for Pattern Formation in Ecology

  2016cites this paper
• Discovery of fairy circles in Australia supports self-organization theory

  2016cites this paper
• Labyrinthine dissipative patterns

  2016cites this paper
• An impulsive modelling framework of fire occurrence in a size-structured model of tree–grass interactions for savanna ecosystems

  2015cites this paper
• Experiments Testing the Causes of Namibian Fairy Circles

  2015cites this paper
• Pattern Formation in Populations with Density-Dependent Movement and Two Interaction Scales

  2015cites this paper
• Localized vegetation patterns, fairy circles, and localized patches in arid landscapes.

  2015cites this paper
• Namibian fairy circles and epithelial cells share emergent geometric order

  2015cites this paper
• Clarifying misunderstandings regarding vegetation self‐organisation and spatial patterns of fairy circles in Namibia: a response to recent termite hypotheses

  2015cites this paper
• Controlled merging and annihilation of localised dissipative structures in an AC-driven damped nonlinear Schrödinger system

  2015cites this paper
• Gradual regime shifts in fairy circles

  2015cites this paper
• Localized structures in dissipative media: from optics to plant ecology

  2014cites this paper
• optics to plant ecology Localized structures in dissipative media: from

  2014cites this paper
• Minimal mechanisms for vegetation patterns in semiarid regions

  2014cites this paper