The total of non-managed bee varieties in Europe facing extinction has over doubled in the last ten years, and the count of endangered butterfly types has almost doubled.
This dire scenario for crucial pollinating species was revealed by research studies for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list, which established that at least one hundred seventy-two bee types out of over 1900 were threatened with extinction in the European continent.
The total of butterflies threatened with extinction in European nations has grown from thirty-seven to sixty-five since the last study, conducted a decade and a half ago. One species, the large white of Madeira (Pieris wollastoni) has now been classified as extinct.
“Beyond their visual charm and cultural importance, pollinators like bees and butterflies are crucial elements for our physical condition, our food chains and our economies – maintaining the fruits, veggies and seeds that feed us,” said the IUCN director general. “The latest European red list assessments reveal serious challenges, with dangers growing for butterfly species and vital native bee types.”
The reasons of the rapid recent declines are the continuing harm or degradation of natural habitats caused by farming intensification and land abandonment, wetland drainage, overgrazing by livestock, and the use of fertilisers and pesticides including neonicotinoid pesticides. The fragmentation of habitat friendly to pollinators substantially boosts the danger of disappearances in specific areas.
Global warming is also revealed to be a significant danger: Fifty-two percent of all endangered butterfly types in Europe are imperilled by the climate emergency – roughly twofold the amount as a ten years ago.
Up to ninety percent of plants that flower in European nations depend on pollination by animals, as per the wild bee assessment’s lead coordinator. “Sadly, wild bee groups are in severe drop and cannot be easily replaced by managed bee colonies,” he said. “If native bees vanish, many wild plants might be in danger as well – of which meadows rich in flowers and attractive orchid varieties are just a couple of instances.”
15 varieties of bumblebee species, which play a crucial role in fertilizing peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and 14 types of cellophane bee species, famous for fertilizing trees such as willow trees and red maples, are now listed as threatened. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee species unique to the continent and the sole species of this biological genus in European nations, is now assessed as critically endangered – the scientific classification nearest to extinction in the wild.
Butterflies that are solely present on mountain peaks are especially at risk to climate change as they must ascend higher as their living spaces become hotter but ultimately exhaust available space. In southern Spain, the Nevada grayling butterfly and the Andalusian anomalous blue butterfly are among above 40 percent of European endemics (only found in Europe) facing extinction.
In the Mediterranean region, varieties such as the critically endangered Karpathos grayling butterfly are threatened by intense drought and wildfires.
At the same time, in the Far North, global warming is causing the tree line to advance northwards by dozens of meters each year, with bushes taking over marsh and tundra. Hotter climates also mean caribou can no more cross the frozen water to browse Arctic meadows and maintain them clear. 8 butterfly varieties are threatened with extinction in this area, including Freyja’s fritillary and the ringlet of the Arctic.
“The largest living space for all these pollinators is grassland rich in flowers and that is vanishing rapidly throughout Europe because of all these elements,” said Martin Warren. “The good news is that so many individuals are aware now and there’s a lot more understanding. Under the EU’s nature restoration regulation, all member countries have to halt the decrease in pollinating species by twenty-thirty, and they are going to have to begin taking action. There are landowners who are engaged. Let’s hope they can receive the incentives that will support them on their way.”
According to the coordinator, there is “easy opportunities” in terms of measures for pollinating insects which will not decrease crop yields – and may enhance it – such as growers developing bloom-filled edges around their farmland.
Jessika Roswall, described the conservation status of non-managed bees, butterfly species and other pollinating insects as “dire”.
“Immediate and joint measures is required to tackle this threat. In collaboration with member states, the Commission of the European Union has implemented an Europe-wide tracking system for pollinating insects based on the European Union nature restoration legislation, which will assist in monitoring our development. Now, we need to focus on application and cooperation with member states to safeguard our pollinating insects,” she said.
The issuance of the bee and butterfly assessments follows the first European-wide evaluation of hoverflies, a further essential pollinator group. Published in twenty-twenty-two, it disclosed that 37% of all hoverfly types in European nations were facing extinction.
