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At the end of the prosperity of the coal mining industry in Upper Silesia in Poland, new habitats were created in disturbed areas which, in the case of flooded mine subsidence, led to the formation of a type of ecological niche not encountered before. In the present work the authors describe the diversity of oak-hornbeam forest in the areas of flooded mine subsidence and the thrips communities connected with them. In 2006 and 2007, the thrips fauna of subsidence areas was sampled in biotopes directly associated with depressions (waterside, contact zones between aquatic and terrestrial — forest biotopes). In both ecosystems a total of 118 plant species and 56 thrips species were found. Disturbance of land resulting in flooded mine subsidence contributes to increased species diversity of both plants and thrips. Other kinds of disturbance such as traffic routes and its direct and indirect impact cause reduce numbers of plants and thrips species.