Survey of metals in soils and associated endemic plants across the historic Harshaw Mining District, Southern Arizona

The legacy of mining exploration and operations can remain for decades to centuries if not treated, posing risks to human and animal health due to fugitive dispersal of metal(loid) laden dust and water. The use of endemic plants is key to the success of phytostabilization because endemics are adapted to the conditions prevailing in local mine sites. To this end, we evaluated the phytostabilization potential of endemic plant populations growing at two unmined mineralized sites and on metallic wastes at two historic mine operations and two sites un-impacted by mining operations within the Harshaw Mining District in southern Arizona. Included in this dataset are the physical (pH, Electrical Conductivity, total carbon and nitrogen, DNA concentrations) and elemental (total metals concentrations) of mine wastes and associated soils, and the elemental composition of endemic plants growing on those soils (total metals concentrations)