The total of non-managed bee types in European nations confronting dying out has increased twofold over the past decade, and the number of threatened butterfly species has nearly doubled.
This dire scenario for crucial pollinating species was disclosed by scientific assessments for the IUCN red list, which determined that at least 172 bee species out of 1,928 were at risk of extinction in the European continent.
The count of butterfly types facing extinction in European nations has increased from 37 to 65 since the earlier research, carried out over a decade past. One type, the Madeiran large white (Pieris wollastoni) has now been confirmed extinct.
Apart from their beauty and cultural value, pollinators like bees along with butterflies are crucial elements for our physical condition, our food supplies and our economies – sustaining the produce, vegetables and seeds that feed us,” stated the IUCN’s director general. “The latest assessments of the European red list reveal significant difficulties, with dangers increasing for butterflies and crucial wild bee varieties.”
The causes of the swift recent drops are the continuing harm or degradation of habitats caused by farming intensification and abandoned land, wetland drainage, livestock overgrazing, and the application of chemical fertilisers and pesticides including neonicotinoids. The fragmentation of pollinator-friendly habitat substantially boosts the threat of local extinctions.
Global heating is also demonstrated to be a major threat: Over half of all at-risk butterflies in European nations are endangered by the climate change crisis – about twice as many as a decade ago.
Up to ninety percent of blooming plants in Europe require animal pollination, according to the wild bee assessment’s lead coordinator. “Unfortunately, native bee colonies are in sharp decrease and cannot be easily replaced by managed bee colonies,” he said. “If wild bees vanish, many wild plants might be at risk too – of which bloom-filled grasslands and beautiful orchid species are just a few examples.”
Fifteen species of bumblebees, which perform a vital function in aiding the pollination of legumes like peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and 14 types of cellophane bee species, known for fertilizing trees such as willows and red maples, are now classified as threatened. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee type unique to the European continent and the single type of this genus group in the European continent, is now classified as critically endangered – the scientific classification most akin to disappearance in the wild.
Butterfly species that are exclusively located on mountain peaks are highly susceptible to climate change as they must ascend higher as their living spaces become hotter but eventually have no room left. In Spain’s southern region, the grayling of Nevada and the anomalous blue of Andalusia are among above 40 percent of species endemic to Europe (exclusive to Europe) at risk of extinction.
In the Mediterranean, species such as the highly at-risk Karpathos grayling butterfly are imperilled by severe drought and wildfires.
Meanwhile, in the Arctic region, global heating is leading to the tree line to shift northward by dozens of meters each year, with scrub encroaching on bog and tundra. Higher temperatures also mean caribou can no longer cross the ice sheets to graze Arctic grasslands and prevent them from overgrowing. Eight types of butterflies are facing extinction in this region, including Freyja’s fritillary and the Arctic ringlet.
“The greatest living space for all these pollinating species is grassland rich in flowers and that is declining quickly across European nations because of all these reasons,” said one of the lead coordinators of the butterflies assessment. “The positive thing is that so many citizens care now and there’s a lot more awareness. Under the EU nature restoration legislation, all participating nations have to turn around the decline in pollinating insects by the year 2030, and they are going to have to begin taking action. There are landowners who are involved. Let’s hope they can get the encouragements that will support them on their way.”
As stated by the coordinator, there is “easy opportunities” in terms of action for pollinating insects which will not decrease crop yields – and may enhance it – such as growers developing flower-rich margins around their farmland.
the EU’s environment commissioner, portrayed the conservation status of native bees, butterflies and additional pollinators as “critical”.
“Urgent and collective action is required to address this risk. In collaboration with participating nations, the Commission of the European Union has implemented an EU-wide observation system for pollinating species based on the EU nature restoration law, which will aid in following our development. Now, we need to prioritize implementation and collaboration with member countries to preserve our pollinating insects,” she said.
The publication of the assessments on bees and butterflies comes after the first European-wide evaluation of hoverflies, a further essential pollinating insect category. Published in 2022, it revealed that over one-third of all hoverfly varieties in European nations were threatened with extinction.
