Fairy Circles

Fairy circles are circular bare patches that form strikingly regular patterns over vast areas. They occur in the millions in parts of Namibia, South Africa Angola, and western Australia. Despite years of research, the origin of the fairy circles remains unclear. We aim to identify and understand processes that may cause the genesis and maintenance of fairy circles based on spatial self-organization. In the context of a Bachelor thesis I supervised, we developed a simulation model based on a cellular automaton. Also, a prototype of a fine-scale and structurally realistic simulation model was developed in the context of another Bachelor thesis that I supervised, which will be the basis for further research.

Status: Current project.

Cooperations: Stephan Getzin, Katrin Meyer, Kerstin Wiegand