These tough plants live primarily in and around mine sites and thrive in soils contaminated with high concentrations of heavy metals, such as zinc, cadmium, lead, and copper.

[2] A. yokoscense is indigenous to Japan, Korea, eastern Siberia and northeastern China and has been known for centuries to tolerate phytotoxic mining sites.

[5][better source needed] Athyrium yokoscense is found in and near mining sites across Japan, Korea, northeastern China, and eastern Siberia.

[6] Recently, with the green movements and environmental concerns for revitalizing mining sites and heavily contaminated fields, more researchers and industrialists are moving into a greener way of cleaning up the soil.

Many papers have been published about the effects of heavy metals on the growth and reproduction of this fern, as well as the mechanism involved in its survival in these toxic environments.

Traditional toxic metal clean-ups are expensive and painstaking processes involving even more dangerous chemicals, but using plants to clean up the environment is greener, cheaper and may be more efficient, as well.