We report for the first time on the formation of spirals like vegetation patterns in isotropic and uniform environmental conditions. The vegetation spirals are not waves and they do not rotate. They belong to the class of dissipative structures found out of equilibrium. Isolated or interacting spirals and arcs observed in South America (Bolivia) and North Africa (Morocco) are interpreted as a result of curvature instability that affects the circular shape of localized patches. The biomass exhibits a dynamical behaviour with arcs that transform into spirals. Interpretation of observations and of the predictions provided by the theory is illustrated by recent measurements of peculiar plant morphology (the alfa plant, or Stipa tenacissima L.) originated from northwestern Africa and the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Dissipative structures in matter out of equilibrium: from chemistry, photonics and biology (part 2)’.

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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" lang="EN-US">The aim of the study at hand was to examine students' perceptions of game elements used in gamification application. ClassDojo, as a study case, was implemented class-wide in a Moroccan High School EFL classroom. Data was gathered and saved directly through the application. It is qualitative research that opted for structured interviews to collect data. The findings were evaluated in so far as class motivation, participation, cooperation, discipline, attendance, and classroom discourse are concerned. This study has shown a crystal clear improvement in terms of discipline, motivations and classroom participation, suggesting the great need to conduct more research with a view to determine if these areas could be positively or negatively impacted when integrating ClassDojo in classroom management on a large scale. The findings of this study are of much significance to decision makers, curriculum developers, syllabus designers, and teachers in both senior and junior schools in Morocco</span><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" lang="EN-US">.</span></p>

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We consider a generic interaction-redistribution model of vegetation dynamics to investigate the formation of patchy vegetation in semi-arid and arid landscapes. First, we perform a weakly nonlinear analysis in the neighborhood of the symmetry-breaking instability. Following this analysis, we construct the bifurcation diagram of the biomass density. The weakly nonlinear analysis allows us to establish the condition under which the transition from super- to subcritical symmetry-breaking instability takes place. Second, we generate a random distribution of localized patches of vegetation numerically. This behavior occurs in regimes where a bare state coexists with a uniform biomass density. Field observations allow to estimate the total biomass density and the range of facilitative and competitive interactions.