Distribution patterns of spontaneous vegetation and pollution at a former decantation basin in southern Québec, Canada

•Revegetation pattern in contaminated sites may reflect spatial distribution of soil pollution.•Partial redundancy analysis was used to investigate spatial distribution of vegetation and pollutants in a former decantation basin.•We found that up to 61% of spontaneous plant distribution was explained by pollutant distribution on the study site.•These findings provide important guidelines for design of site-specific and community-based remediation strategy.