Is climate change one of the drivers causing the fairy circles of Namibia?
Since the Namibian fairy circles were described for the first time by modern humans 50 years
ago, and possibly during the Stone Age chiselled in rock by the Bergdama people, many peer-reviewed
papers, as well as popular articles have been published on fairy circles. There are
quite a number of extremely diverse theories given as the cause of the formation of these
hundreds of thousands of nearly circular barren patches. However, scientists still do not agree
on the reason(s) behind this intriguing phenomenon. In this presentation we’ll present
geochemical, phytometabolomical and GIS spatial patterning evidence supporting that the
fairy circles are caused by the allelopathic effects of Euphorbia species. We will also discuss
the shocking decline of Euphorbia populations in the Namib pro-desert, possibly due to climate
change.
The melting ice of the poles is often used as an upsetting image illustrating climate change.
The hundreds of thousands of fairy circles may possibly be a similar alarming image of
vegetation decline due to climate change.
Date: 28 February 2023, 16:00 (Tuesday, 7th week, Hilary 2023)
Venue: Dyson Perrins Building, off South Parks Road OX1 3QY
Venue Details: Atmosphere Room
Speaker: Professor Marion Meyer (Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Pretoria)
Organising department: School of Geography and the Environment
Booking required?: Not required
Cost: Free
Audience: Members of the University only
Editors: Chris White, Donna Palfreman