Animals aren’t the only parts of ecosystems that can be affected by habitat fragmentation and well development. A study done on oil wells in the Great Plains of Saskatchewan found that lease sites were found to have fewer herbaceous
plants and desirable, less club moss and leaf litter, more bare ground, altered soil chemistry, and a higher abundance of undesirable grass species than non-lease sites. It was also shown that these impacts could last for fifty years or more, and for up to 25 meters away from the well pad footprint