Arachnologische Mitteilungen 54

50 K. Wiśniewski & A. Dawidowicz places in southern England (British Arachnological Society 2017) – and Germany (Arachnologische Gesellschaft 2017). The two species have quite clear habitat preferences in the northern part of their range, as they prefer warm and dry habitats. Uloborus walckenaerius is generally recognized as a xerothermic and thermophilous species (Platen et al. 1999, Buchar & Růžička 2002). The majority of records from the British Isles (Locket & Millidge 1951, Denton 1999a, Bri- tish Arachnological Society 2017) and Germany (Platen et al. 1999, Kielhorn 2016, Nentwig et al. 2017) come from hea- ther. In the Czech Republic it was found predominately in different sandy habitats (Růžička 1998, Buchar & Růžička 2002, Hula et al. 2014). In Ukraine it was most numerous in sandy steppes (Polchaninova 2012). It is worth remembering that some of the habitats where U . walckenaerius was found have been created by human activity (Weber 1999, Hula et al. 2014); the majority of heathlands in Poland are also an- thropogenic. Oxyopes heterophthalmus was also recorded in heathlands both in England (Denton 1999b, British Arach- nological Society 2017) and in Germany (von Broen 1995, Balkenhol & Haase 2013, Kielhorn 2016), which confirms its affinity to these habitats in this part of Europe. Due to their rarity and preference for particular habitats the two species have been included into several Red Lists. Uloborus walckenaerius has high ranks in some European countries (EN in the Czech Republic – Řezáč et. al. 2015; seriously endangered in Germany – Blick et al. 2016) or re- gions, e.g. Brandenburg (endangered from extinction; Platen et al. 1999). However in comparison to previous versions of these list, it has been given lower categories, because of an increase in its abundance (Řezáč et. al. 2015), better availabi- lity of information on its distribution or changes in the me- thodology of preparing such lists (Blick et al. 2016). Oxyopes heterophthalmus was also included in some lists as extremely rare (Blick et al. 2016) or endangered from extinction (Platen et al. 1999). The presence of the two species in this part of Poland is important with respect to nature protection. In the neighbou- ring countries the species are rare, endangered and regarded as valuable. They might be considered as characteristic for heathlands. These habitats require management activities as they quickly undergo succession by pine and birch forest, and there is also the need for rejuvenation of heather. The other concern is the expansion of Molinia caerulea grasslands – a problem on the European scale (Chambers et. al. 1999, Brys et al. 2005). In the heathlands of Przemków pine and birch overgrowth is regularly cut down. Lately, prescribed fire and choppering were experimentally applied to rejuvenate the heath (the part of our study). In other studies these methods were found to be appropriate to protect habitats of another endangered species – also present in our study – Eresus kollari Rossi, 1846 (Krause et al. 2011). Burning the heather may create suitable habitats for a high number of valuable spider species (Krause & Assmann 2016). Another example of a rare species present in the area is a salticid protected under Polish law – Philaeus chrysops (Poda, 1761), which lives both in the former and the presently used military training areas (Wiśniewski et. al 2015). Former and actively used military training areas thus of- ten serve as refugia for disturbance dependent species (War- ren & Büttner 2008) and valuable invertebrate assemblages (Čížek et al. 2013), including spiders (Buchholz & Hartmann 2008, Lemke 2017).The protection of anthropogenic habitats present in these areas may raise some ambiguities in terms of its scope and methods. However, the results may be impor- tant not only for biological diversity but also to local human communities, as the example of heather honey production in Poland shows. The presence of U . walckenaerius , O . heteroph- thalmus , the above mentioned P . chrysops , and many other rare species are important reasons to undertake management ac- tivities of heathlands in this region. Acknowledgements We would like to thankWandaWesołowska for her help in preparing this article. Special thanks to the rest of the team – in particular to Ewa Szczęśniak, AdamMalkiewicz,Michał Furgoł – and to the staff of the Forest District of Przemków and the Regional Department of the National Forests in Wrocław. References Arachnologische Gesellschaft 2017 Atlas of the European Arachnids. – Internet: http://atlas.arages.de (February 5, 2017) Balkenhol B & Haase H 2013 Spinnen (Araneae) der Muskauer Heide. – Berichte der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft der Ober- lausitz 21: 103-110 Bell JR,Wheater CP & Cullen WR 2001The implications of grass- land and heathland management for the conservation of spider communities: a review. – Journal of Zoology 255: 377-387 – doi: 10.1017/S0952836901001479 Figs 9-12: Oxyopes heterophthalmus , male palp. 9. Retrolateral view, 10, 11. Ventral, 12. Dorsal