Mar 29, 2024 05:25 PM
https://thedebrief.org/african-fairy-cir...in-plants/
EXCERPTS: . . . So what is behind the fairy circles?
The researchers point to an alternative “self-organization” hypothesis where the grasses essentially create their own downfall through competition for scarce water resources. The plants, in simple terms, organize.
Using continuous soil moisture monitoring, the team found that the uppermost 10cm topsoil layer inside fairy circles dries out rapidly after rainfall, while deeper soil layers retain more moisture. The young grass seedlings, with roots only 10cm long, cannot reach this deeper water reservoir and quickly desiccate, while the thriving grass on the exterior of the fairy circle enjoys a feeding frenzy.
“With their well-developed root system, these clumps of grass soak up the water particularly well. After the rain, they have a huge competitive advantage over the freshly germinated grasses in the fairy circle. The new grass only loses a small amount of water via transpiration from its small leaves, resulting in insufficient ‘suction power’ to pull new water from deeper soil layers,” Dr. Stephan Getzin said in a statement.
[...] “This self-organization can be described as ‘swarm intelligence’. It is a systematic adaptation to a lack of resources in arid regions,” say Getzin and his colleague Dr Hezi Yizhaq... (MORE - missing details)
PAPER: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar...via%3Dihub
RESEARCH WEBSITE: https://www.fairy-circles.info/
EXCERPTS: . . . So what is behind the fairy circles?
The researchers point to an alternative “self-organization” hypothesis where the grasses essentially create their own downfall through competition for scarce water resources. The plants, in simple terms, organize.
Using continuous soil moisture monitoring, the team found that the uppermost 10cm topsoil layer inside fairy circles dries out rapidly after rainfall, while deeper soil layers retain more moisture. The young grass seedlings, with roots only 10cm long, cannot reach this deeper water reservoir and quickly desiccate, while the thriving grass on the exterior of the fairy circle enjoys a feeding frenzy.
“With their well-developed root system, these clumps of grass soak up the water particularly well. After the rain, they have a huge competitive advantage over the freshly germinated grasses in the fairy circle. The new grass only loses a small amount of water via transpiration from its small leaves, resulting in insufficient ‘suction power’ to pull new water from deeper soil layers,” Dr. Stephan Getzin said in a statement.
[...] “This self-organization can be described as ‘swarm intelligence’. It is a systematic adaptation to a lack of resources in arid regions,” say Getzin and his colleague Dr Hezi Yizhaq... (MORE - missing details)
PAPER: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar...via%3Dihub
RESEARCH WEBSITE: https://www.fairy-circles.info/