Landslakken op de Joodse begraafplaats in Monnickendam

Old cemeteries often represent unofficial tiny nature reserves where interesting animal and plant populations may freely develop. The Jewish cemetery in Monnickendam, North-Holland, the Netherlands, established in 1677 – but hardly used at the moment – is a fine example. A search for terrestrial gastropods living in this graveyard yielded only 8 species in the autumn of 2010, which number was doubled in the same period in 2011. Noteworthy were the finds of four invasive species: the slugs Tandonia sowerbyi, Limacus flavus and Deroceras panormitanum and the snail Hygromia cinctella.