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.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society.
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. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences
JF - Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences
IS - 2027
M1 - 0009
ER -