1. Introduction
Spiders play a crucial role in ecosystems because they are most
abundant group of terrestrial predators (Turnbull, 1973). Moreover,
they are already present in the early stages of ecological succession
(e.g. on recultivated coal heaps; Majkus, 1988). The abundance of
certain species of spiders in industrial areas is proof that they use
specific adaptation mechanisms that allow them to survive in
environments with excessive pollution (Wilczek and Babczyńska,
2000). Thus, they are an interesting object for studies on the development
of a tolerance to stress factors. These arthropods are
increasingly used as bioindicators of environments, especially
those that have been anthropogenically transformed, due to the
place they occupy in trophic networks (Marc et al., 1999) and their
ability to accumulate heavy metals (Wilczek, 1999).