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Vegetation and soil data from reclaimed oil and gas well pads managed by the Bureau of Land Management, Carlsbad Field Office, New Mexico

March 7, 2025
These data were compiled to support a study of how environmental setting affects the success of well pad reclamation within the region managed by the Bureau of Land Management, Carlsbad Field Office in southeastern New Mexico, USA. The data were collected in 2022 and 2023 and represent vegetation, soil, and climate conditions at 70 reclaimed well pads from 4 to 24 years after the wells were plugged and reclaimed. The data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Moab, UT, Research Station, using field observations and some remotely sensed or mapped products (gridded climate and soil property maps). The data can be used to represent the environmental condition of the well pads at the time of collection, the elapsed time between when wells were plugged (a proxy for the start of the reclamation process) and when data were collected, and the climate at each well pad as represented by the global aridity index. For some data, samples were taken both on well pads and adjacent to them in relatively undisturbed areas and so may be used to compare the condition of pads with adjacent reference conditions.
Publication Year 2025
Title Vegetation and soil data from reclaimed oil and gas well pads managed by the Bureau of Land Management, Carlsbad Field Office, New Mexico
DOI 10.5066/P1P7C4OF
Authors J. G Penn, Aarin Sengsirirak, Anna C Knight, Lauren A Zeller, Charlotte P Tierney, Seth M Munson, Miguel Villarreal, Michael C Duniway
Product Type Data Release
Record Source USGS Asset Identifier Service (AIS)
USGS Organization Southwest Biological Science Center - Flagstaff, AZ, Headquarters
Rights This work is marked with CC0 1.0 Universal
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