The total of wild bee types in the European continent facing disappearance has more than doubled during the previous ten-year period, whereas the count of threatened butterfly types has almost doubled.
This pressing issue for vital pollinating species was revealed by scientific assessments for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list, which established that at least over 170 bee species out of over 1900 were threatened with extinction in Europe.
The count of butterflies at risk of extinction in the European continent has grown from thirty-seven to 65 since the previous assessment, carried out over a decade past. A single species, the large white of Madeira (Pieris wollastoni) has now been confirmed extinct.
In addition to their beauty and cultural value, pollinating insects like bees and butterfly species are essential supports for our well-being, our food systems and our economic systems – sustaining the produce, vegetables and seeds that feed us,” stated the IUCN director general. “The most recent assessments of the European red list reveal major obstacles, with risks growing for butterflies and crucial native bee varieties.”
The reasons of the quick recent decreases are the persistent destruction or damage of natural habitats caused by agricultural intensification and land abandonment, draining of wetlands, overgrazing by livestock, and the use of fertilisers and pesticides including neonicotinoid pesticides. The division of environments suitable for pollinators substantially boosts the danger of local extinctions.
Global heating is also revealed to be a primary risk: 52% of all at-risk butterfly species in European nations are endangered by the climate crisis – roughly twofold the amount as a ten years ago.
Nearly ninety percent of blooming plants in Europe depend on insect pollination, as stated by the lead coordinator of the wild bee assessment. “Regrettably, native bee populations are in severe drop and are not easily replaceable by managed colonies,” he said. “If wild bees vanish, many non-cultivated plants might be at risk too – of which flower-rich meadows and lovely orchid types are just a handful of illustrations.”
15 varieties of bumblebee types, which have an essential part in pollinating crops such as peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and fourteen varieties of cellophane bee types, famous for aiding tree pollination such as willows along with red maples, are now categorized as at-risk. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee unique to the mainland and the single type of this genus in the European continent, is now evaluated as severely threatened – the scientific classification most akin to disappearance in the wild.
Butterfly species that are exclusively located on mountain tops are particularly vulnerable to climate change as they must ascend higher as their habitats become hotter but in the end have no room left. In the southern part of Spain, the grayling of Nevada and the Andalusian anomalous blue butterfly are among above 40 percent of European endemics (only found in Europe) at risk of extinction.
In the Mediterranean, types such as the critically endangered Karpathos grayling butterfly are threatened by extreme dry conditions and fires.
Meanwhile, in the Arctic region, global warming is causing the timberline to advance northwards by many meters each year, with underbrush invading marsh and tundra. Hotter climates also mean reindeer can not anymore cross the ice sheets to browse northern grasslands and keep them open. Eight types of butterflies are at risk of extinction in this area, including the fritillary of Freyja and the ringlet of the Arctic.
“The biggest living space for all these pollinators is flower-rich grassland and that is vanishing rapidly in the European continent because of all these reasons,” remarked one of the lead coordinators of the butterflies assessment. “The positive thing is that so many individuals are aware now and there’s a lot more consciousness. Under the European Union nature restoration law, all member states have to turn around the decrease in pollinating insects by 2030, and they are going to have to begin taking action. There are landowners who are involved. Let’s hope they can obtain the encouragements that will support them on their way.”
As per Martin Warren, there is “easy opportunities” in terms of steps for pollinating species which will not lower food production – and may enhance it – such as farmers developing flower-rich margins around their fields.
EU commissioner for environment, portrayed the protection status of native bees, butterflies and additional pollinators as “critical”.
“Urgent and collective action is needed to address this threat. In collaboration with participating nations, the Commission of the European Union has put in place an Europe-wide monitoring system for pollinators based on the European Union nature restoration legislation, which will help to track our development. Now, we need to concentrate on execution and partnership with participating nations to protect our pollinating insects,” she said.
The release of the bee and butterfly assessments follows the first EU-wide assessment of hoverflies, an additional vital group of pollinators. Published in 2022, it disclosed that 37% of all hoverfly types in European nations were threatened with extinction.
