Fairy Circles (IMAGE)

Princeton University

Fairy Circles

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Scientists have long debated how landscape-scale plant patterns such as the famous 'fairy circles' of Namibia (above) form and persist. Now, a new Princeton University-led study suggests that instead of a single overarching cause, large-scale vegetation patterns in arid ecosystems could occasionally stem from millions of local interactions among neighboring plants and animals.

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Photo by Danita Delimont Creative/Alamy Stock

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