Scientists of the University of South Wales in Sydney revealed the reason for the appearance of mysterious rings, which form herbaceous plants of the kind of spinifex in the desert. The results of the study were published in the journal Australian Journal of Botany, briefly talks about them in a press release on Phys.org.
Biologists assembled soil samples inside and outside spinifex rings, and also compared plants grown on sterilized soil and on soil with alive microorganisms. According to the hypothesis of specialists, the unusual form is formed due to the activity of pathogenic soil microbes that prevent the appearance of seedlings and their further growth in the center.
It turned out that the sterilization of the soil significantly improves the germination of plants. The seeds also germinated better on non-stervised soil outside than on non-sterusable soil inside the rings. Thus, the ring form is explained by the fact that the pathogenic microorganisms are killing in the center of the plant, and the new plants grow from the outer edge, where the pathogens are less than.
According to scientists, the new information will help scientists deeper to understand the unique ecology of arid pastures of Australia, as well as the role that soil microbes play in ground ecosystems around the world.