Strong interaction between plants induces circular barren patches: Fairy circles

C. Fernandez-Oto; M. Tlidi; D. Escaff; M. G. Clerc

doi:10.1098/rsta.2014.0009

Strong interaction between plants induces circular barren patches: Fairy circles

C. Fernandez-Oto^*, M. Tlidi, D. Escaff, M. G. Clerc

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

52 Scopus citations

Abstract

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 nonlocal 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.

Original language	English
Article number	0009
Journal	Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
Volume	372
Issue number	2027
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2014.0009
State	Published - 28 Oct 2014

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society.

Keywords

Fairy circles
Localized structures
Population dynamics

Access to Document

10.1098/rsta.2014.0009

Cite this

@article{16351c11a0fc486ca25aec8558491ecb,

title = "Strong interaction between plants induces circular barren patches: Fairy circles",

abstract = "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 nonlocal 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.",

keywords = "Fairy circles, Localized structures, Population dynamics",

author = "C. Fernandez-Oto and M. Tlidi and D. Escaff and Clerc, {M. G.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society.",

year = "2014",

month = oct,

day = "28",

doi = "10.1098/rsta.2014.0009",

language = "English",

volume = "372",

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

issn = "1364-503X",

publisher = "The Royal Society",

number = "2027",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Strong interaction between plants induces circular barren patches

T2 - Fairy circles

AU - Fernandez-Oto, C.

AU - Tlidi, M.

AU - Escaff, D.

AU - Clerc, M. G.

PY - 2014/10/28

Y1 - 2014/10/28

N2 - 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 nonlocal 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.

AB - 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 nonlocal 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.

KW - Fairy circles

KW - Localized structures

KW - Population dynamics

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84908117177&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1098/rsta.2014.0009

DO - 10.1098/rsta.2014.0009

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84908117177

SN - 1364-503X

VL - 372

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

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

IS - 2027

M1 - 0009

ER -

Strong interaction between plants induces circular barren patches: Fairy circles

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this