Termites 'engineer fairy circles' [View all]

[dipsydoodle]

A German scientist thinks he can now explain the strange rings of grass that cover great swathes of desert-margin land in southwestern Africa.

These so-called fairy circles have variously been pinned on the presence of other, poisonous plants, on ants, and even toxic gases rising from below.

But Norbert Juergens says the one ever-present factor is sand termites.

The creatures have engineered the rings to maintain a supply of water in their environment, he tells Science magazine.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21970408