Landslakken langs spoordijken, 3. Het traject van de museumstoomtram Hoorn-Medemblik

A stretch of 3 km of the Museumsteamtramline Hoorn-Medemblik was investigated for the presence of terrestrial snails. At least twenty-one different species were recorded as living along this line. All, except one: the introduced, but rapidly spreading Cantareus aspersus, are typical inhabitants of biotopes present in a peat-bog area crossed by the steamtramline. None of the species typical for dry railway embankments elsewhere in Noord-Holland like Pupilla, Monacha, Candidula or Cernuella, were encountered. The absence of such species is probably caused by the fact that this line runs almost at groundlevel. Predation on some of the landsnails is carried out by Thrushes and White-toothed shrews and most probably also by carabid beetles and terrestrial flatworms.