Termites Behind Desert 'Fairy Circles' (4 of 7) (IMAGE)

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Termites Behind Desert 'Fairy Circles' (4 of 7)

Caption

This shows a fully developed fairy circle with a green perennial belt (living grass plants) and a yellowish matrix (dead short-lived plants), both formed by the same species of grass (Stipagrostis ciliate). Farm Dieprivier / Namib Desert Lodge, Namibia. This image relates to a paper that appeared in the March 29, 2013, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The paper, by Norbert Juergens at University of Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany, and colleagues was titled, "The Biological Underpinnings of Namib Desert Fairy Circles."

Credit

[Image courtesy of N. Juergens]

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