Fairy Circles (IMAGE) Princeton University Caption 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. Credit Photo by Danita Delimont Creative/Alamy Stock Usage Restrictions None License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.