Foreword

Abstract

The special issue of EQ No. 12 includes 11 papers written by ecologists and geographers from the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, as well as by biologists and ecologists from Italy. The first paper of this collection is dedicated to physiographic determinants of the occurrence of heaths in the Toruń Valley. A great deal of space in this paper was devoted to inland dunes, which condition the occurrence of pine forests in this region, as well as the occurrence of heaths after cutting down the forests. The second paper, written by 8 authors, presents transformations on the Zadroże Dune over the 60 years. The next four papers are dedicated to vegetation and habitat variability within heaths, as well as psammophilous grasslands and pine forests occurring in the city of Toruń and in its immediate vicinity. Through the temporal series of street plans, topographic maps, as well as aerial and satellite images, the extinction of heaths was demonstrated in the suburban zone of Toruń, which results from urbanization processes and contamination of the  atmosphere by industrial and municipal services.