The number of native bee types in European nations facing disappearance has over doubled in the last ten years, whereas the total of endangered butterfly species has almost doubled.
This critical situation for vital pollinating species was revealed by research studies for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list, which found that at least 172 bee types out of 1,928 were facing extinction in Europe.
The count of butterflies at risk of extinction in European nations has increased from 37 to 65 since the previous assessment, performed 14 years ago. A single species, the Madeiran large white butterfly (Pieris wollastoni) has now been declared extinct.
Apart from their beauty and cultural value, pollinating species like bees and butterfly species are crucial elements for our health, our food systems and our economies – maintaining the produce, vegetables and seeds that sustain us,” commented the IUCN’s director general. “The newest European red list evaluations reveal significant difficulties, with threats mounting for butterflies and crucial wild bee types.”
The causes of the quick recent decreases are the ongoing harm or degradation of natural habitats caused by farming intensification and land abandonment, draining wetlands, excessive grazing by animals, and the use of pesticides and fertilisers including neonicotinoid pesticides. The division of habitat friendly to pollinators substantially boosts the danger of extinctions at local level.
Global warming is also shown to be a major threat: Over half of all threatened butterflies in Europe are threatened by the climate crisis – roughly twice as many as a ten years ago.
Nearly ninety percent of blooming plants in European nations rely on insect pollination, according to the wild bee assessment’s lead coordinator. “Regrettably, wild bee colonies are in sharp decrease and cannot be easily replaced by domesticated hives,” he said. “If native bees vanish, many native plants might be in danger as well – of which bloom-filled grasslands and beautiful orchid species are just a couple of instances.”
Fifteen types of bumblebee types, which perform a vital function in fertilizing crops such as peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and fourteen varieties of cellophane bees, famous for pollinating trees such as willow trees and red maples, are now classified as threatened. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee type found only in the European continent and the single type of this genus group in Europe, is now evaluated as severely threatened – the scientific category most akin to disappearance in the wild.
Butterflies that are only found on mountain peaks are especially at risk to global heating as they need to move uphill as their environments become more heated but ultimately exhaust available space. In the southern part of Spain, the grayling of Nevada and the anomalous blue of Andalusia are among more than 40% of types unique to Europe (solely present in Europe) threatened with extinction.
In the Mediterranean area, varieties such as the severely threatened Karpathos grayling are imperilled by extreme drought and wildfires.
In the meantime, in the Arctic Circle, global warming is leading to the tree line to move north by many meters each year, with scrub taking over bog and tundra. Warmer conditions also mean Arctic deer can not anymore cross the frozen water to feed on Arctic grasslands and keep them open. Eight types of butterflies are at risk of extinction in this zone, including Freyja’s fritillary and the Arctic ringlet.
“The largest habitat for all these pollinators is bloom-filled grassy areas and that is disappearing very fast across European nations because of all these elements,” said one of the lead coordinators of the butterflies assessment. “The good news is that so many citizens care now and there’s a lot more understanding. Under the EU nature restoration legislation, all member countries have to halt the drop in pollinating species by twenty-thirty, and they are going to have to begin taking action. There are property owners who are interested. It is hoped they can get the incentives that will help them on their way.”
As stated by Warren, there is “easy opportunities” in terms of measures for pollinators which won’t reduce agricultural output – and might boost it – such as agricultural producers creating flower-rich margins around their fields.
Jessika Roswall, characterized the protection status of non-managed bees, butterfly species and other pollinating insects as “critical”.
“Urgent and collective action is needed to address this danger. In collaboration with member states, the European Commission has implemented an European Union-wide tracking system for pollinating insects based on the EU nature restoration regulation, which will aid in following our development. Now, we need to prioritize implementation and cooperation with member states to protect our pollinators,” she said.
The publication of the evaluations of bees along with butterflies follows the initial EU-wide assessment of hoverflies, another vital pollinator group. Issued in 2022, it showed that 37% of all hoverfly types in Europe were threatened with extinction.
