An observation network for fairy circles has been installed that includes sites in Angola, Namibia and South Africa. Here the pictures of one of several webcams show the vegetation growth triggered by the summer rains in early 2016 within the Observatory Featherlion Hill in Marienflussvalley, Namibia.

The video shows the webcam pictures from 5 December 2015 to 20 May 2016, each taken at 12 p.m.

Sand termites in Africa create natural water reservoirs for their ecosytem. Prof. Dr. Norbert Jürgens, Professor for Evolution, Biodiversity and Ecology of Plants at the University of Hamburg published his research results in the Science magazin issue of 29 March 2013.

The sand termite Psammotermes allocerus generates local ecosystems, so-called fairy circles, through removal of short-lived vegetation that appears after rain, leaving circular barren patches. Because of rapid percolation and lack of evapotranspiration, water is retained within the circles. This process results in the formation of rings of perennial vegetation that facilitate termite survival and locally increase biodiversity. This termite-generated ecosystem persists through prolonged droughts lasting many decades.

Norbert Jürgens: "The Biological Underpinnings of Namib Desert Fairy Circles"
(Science 29 March 2013 Vol. 339)
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"Namibia – Das Geheimnis der Feenkreise"
(Epofilm)
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"Sensationen der Savanne: Feenkreis-Rätsel lässt Forscher verzweifeln"
(Spiegel Online)
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"Africa's Weird Fairy Circles are Termite-Built Water Traps"
(National Geographic)
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