Abstract
Regardless of origin, all water bodies situated inside forests form a unique habitat for many freshwater animals due to the allochthonous detritus covering the bottom, composed mostly of leaves from waterside trees. For many years these woodland ponds have been considered to be advantageous to regional biodiversity. Investigations were carried out in eight anthropogenic woodland ponds, formed as a consequence of coal mining activities, situated in forest complexes in Upper Silesia (Southern Poland), to evaluate the impact of allochthonic and autochthonic plant detritus on the formation of zoobenthic communities, together with insolation intensity. In sites covered by a layer of allochthonic plant matter, zoobenthos were more abundant compared to places covered by autochthonic detritus. The density of zoobenthos in sun-exposed sites was two to three times greater than in shaded sites.