Significance Combining model and empirical data analyses, we show that transitions between alternative stable states (regime shifts) in spatially extended ecosystems are not necessarily abrupt; cascades of local shifts between a multitude of stable states, composed of patterned and uniform domains, can result in global regime shifts that proceed gradually. In the Namibian fairy circle ecosystem (barren circular gaps in grasslands), such local shifts appear as fairy circle birth or death processes. This mechanism of regime shifts has never been demonstrated in a specific natural context. In addition, the results reported here further support the view of fairy circles as a self-organization phenomenon by providing a new type of evidence based on dynamical processes.