Mysterious perpetrator creates 'fairy circle'

The fairy circle is the name of the giant circular spaces with diameters from 2 to 15m. They usually appear in arid grasslands in the Namib Desert (southwestern Africa), particularly popular in Namibia.

Recently, however, circles have appeared in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. This is a long-standing phenomenon that causes scientists to have headaches.

According to a report by a group of authors: "Vegetation spaces in the arid grassland, similar to the magical circle in Namibia, appeared in remote areas of Western Australia, 10,000 km away from Namibia ".

The phenomenon of thousands of pentagonal vacant land was discovered in Namibia in 2009. Previous tribes in Africa once thought that these mysterious circles were the footprints of the gods. Some believe that there is a dragon living in this land and bubbles on the ground, creating fairy circles.

In 2003, Norbert Juergens, a biologist at the University of Hamburg (Germany), argued that the oddly shaped bare circular spots in the sandy desert grasslands of Namibia, southern Africa were caused by Psammotermesallocerus .

Pictures of Psammotermesallocerus sand termites

Scientist Michael Cramer of the University of Cape Town in South Africa recently announced a new discovery of " the culprit " creating countless mysterious circles in the sandy desert grasslands in Namibia, southern Africa. Accordingly, it is the underground competition between the grasses of the underground desert that causes these circles.

Michael Cramer argues that, in the desert, the soil is poor in nutrients and lack of rain, so it creates competition among many trees in the desert. The stronger plants absorb all the nutrients and cause many species of seedlings and saplings in the region to wither and die, gradually unable to grow. It is the barren " fairy circle " that is a huge resource, providing water and nutrients to larger areas of nearby grasslands. Biologist Walter Tschinkel of the University of Florida (USA) who did not participate in the study said: " This is really a new discovery, consistent with the characteristics of these circles ."