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2.Literaturereview
ThecasestoryoftheScotspinepopulationfromMiasteczkoŚląskie(MŚL)
isassociatedwiththelong-termdevelopmentofindustryinthisarea,in
concreteterms,withtheexcavationandprocessingofmineralmetalliferous,
mainlyzincandlead.Althoughthehistoryoforeoutputinthisareadates
backtothemid-13thcentury,leadandsilverminingwasinitiallyminimal.
Inthe1520s,richdepositsofgalenawerediscoveredandin1562Miastecz-
koŚląskiebecamebenefitingfromtheprivilegesofbeingafreemining
town(Molenda&Balcerzak1987).Exploitationinthisformfinallyendedin
1917.Originally,habitatinthisareawasoligotrophicfreshconiferousfor-
est,withtheScotspinebeingthedominantspecies,supplementedwith
asmallamountofspruceandlarchandafewdeciduousspecies.Thiswas
associatedwiththetypeofsoilsclassifiedaspodzolic,derivedfromsand-
waterglacialorigin(Gerold-Śmietańska2007).AtthebeginningoftheXXth
century,duetohumanactivity,freshlymixedconiferousforestgradually
transformedintopineandsprucemonoculture(Cabała1980).
Inthelate60s,theplantIZincSmelterofMiasteczkoŚląskie’(MŚL)was
established;beingoneofthelargestmetallurgicalcomplexesinPolandfor
nearlytwodecades.MŚLisstilltheleadingproducerofzinconthePolish
market,withannualproductionof70,000tonsofrefinedZnand25,000tons
ofrefinedPb(PlanGospodarkiOdpadami2006).Thirtyyearsago,zinc-
worksproducedhugeamountsofwastecontainingcalciummagnesium
oxide,slagandtoxicsulphuricacid.Asaresult,inthe70sand80s,thearea
aroundthesmelterplantbecameanecologicaldisasterzone.Climaticcon-
ditionscontributedtothisadditionally.
Thebufferzoneofthezincsmelterisequallyaffectedbythevicinityof
theUpperSilesianIndustrialDistrict(USID)fromthesouthern,andthecity
MiasteczkoŚląskiefromthenorthernside.Theclimateeasestheeffectin
theproximityofalargeforestcomplexonthenorth-eastside.Themean
factorthatplaysaveryimportantroleinthedispersionofpollutantsis
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