Mystery Behind Bizarre Fairy Circles in African Desert Finally Solved

The mystery behind the bizarre, grassless rings that dot the Southwest African desert may have finally been solved. Dubbed "fairy circles," these creations were not formed by small, winged people. Instead, they were constructed by termites.

The rings have baffled scientists for years. Dotting the landscape like the desert version of crop circles, they can persist for decades. Now, researchers have found that a species of sand termite, Psammotermes allocerus, may be behind the dirt rings.

While termites have been proposed as being the cause before, there was little evidence to support the theory. Yet biologist Norbert Juergens may have found some. While researching the circles, he noticed that wherever he found the dirt patches,he also found sand termites at the center of the rings. During the course of his study of the fairy circles, he measured the water content of the rings from 2006 to 2012. He noted that, surprisingly, more than two inches of water was stored in the top 39 inches of soil--even during the driest periods. In fact, the soil humidity below 16 inches beneath the surface of the Earth was about five percent or more over four years.

It's possible that the termites actually construct these rings in order to collect rainwater. Without the grass in the ring to absorb the water and release it back into the air via evaporation, the rainwater instead collects in the porous soil. Since the termites were the only creatures that Juergens found at the sites, he believes that they're the real cause of the fairy circles. In addition, he found telltale signs of the insects, including cemented sand, foraged plant material and underground tunnels.

There are still those who are skeptical about the origin of the fairy circles, though. Scientists question how the termites could cause the sudden plant mortality and create the vast patches of brown earth-especially since the insects usually enrich the plants around them.

Yet Juergens has an explanation. He believes that the insects could chew the roots of the grass and plants, effectively killing them from beneath the surface. Whether or not this is the real cause of the rings, though, remains to be seen.

The findings are published in the journal Science.