The number of native bee varieties in the European continent confronting extinction has more than doubled in the last ten years, whereas the total of at-risk butterfly has nearly doubled.
This critical situation for vital pollinators was unveiled by scientific studies for the IUCN red list, which determined that at least 172 bee varieties out of 1,928 were threatened with extinction in the European continent.
The count of butterfly species at risk of extinction in Europe has increased from thirty-seven to over sixty since the earlier research, conducted over a decade past. One type, the Madeiran large white butterfly (Pieris wollastoni) has now been declared extinct.
Apart from their aesthetic appeal and cultural value, pollinators like bees and butterflies are lifelines for our well-being, our food systems and our economies – maintaining the produce, vegetables and seeds that feed us,” said the IUCN’s director general. “The newest European red list evaluations reveal major obstacles, with risks mounting for butterfly species and vital wild bee varieties.”
The causes of the quick recent decreases are the continuing damage or destruction of habitats caused by farming intensification and deserted farmland, wetland drainage, overgrazing by livestock, and the application of chemical fertilisers and pesticides including neonicotinoids. The breaking up of pollinator-friendly habitat greatly increases the danger of disappearances in specific areas.
Global heating is also revealed to be a primary risk: 52% of all at-risk butterfly types in European nations are endangered by the climate crisis – roughly double the number as a previous decade.
Up to 90% of plants that flower in the European continent depend on animal pollination, according to the wild bee assessment’s lead coordinator. “Unfortunately, native bee groups are in severe drop and cannot readily be substituted by managed bee colonies,” he said. “If wild bees vanish, many non-cultivated plants might be at risk too – of which bloom-filled grasslands and beautiful orchid species are just a handful of illustrations.”
Fifteen species of bumblebee types, which play a crucial role in aiding the pollination of legumes like peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and fourteen varieties of cellophane bee species, known for pollinating trees such as willow trees and red maples, are now classified as threatened. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee exclusive to the continent and the single type of this genus in the European continent, is now evaluated as critically endangered – the scientific classification nearest to disappearance in the wild.
Butterfly types that are exclusively located on mountain tops are especially at risk to global warming as they must ascend higher as their habitats become more heated but ultimately exhaust available space. In southern Spain, the Nevada grayling butterfly and the Andalusian anomalous blue butterfly are among over forty percent of European endemics (solely present in Europe) facing extinction.
In the Mediterranean region, varieties such as the highly at-risk Karpathos grayling are threatened by intense drought and wildfires.
Meanwhile, in the Far North, climate change is resulting in the timberline to advance northwards by dozens of meters each year, with bushes encroaching on bog and tundra. Higher temperatures also mean caribou can not anymore cross the ice sheets to browse northern grasslands and keep them open. Eight butterfly species are threatened with extinction in this zone, including Freyja’s fritillary and the ringlet of the Arctic.
“The greatest living space for all these pollinating species is grassland rich in flowers and that is declining quickly across Europe because of all these reasons,” said a lead coordinator for the butterfly assessment. “The good news is that so many people are aware now and there’s a lot more awareness. Under the European Union nature restoration law, all member states have to turn around the decline in pollinating insects by the year 2030, and they are going to have to start doing something. There are landowners who are interested. We hope they can obtain the incentives that will support them on their way.”
According to the coordinator, there is “low-hanging fruit” in terms of steps for pollinating species which will not lower food production – and might boost it – such as farmers creating margins rich in flowers around their fields.
Jessika Roswall, described the protection status of non-managed bees, butterfly species and other pollinating insects as “critical”.
“Urgent and collective action is required to tackle this threat. Together with member states, the EU Commission has established an European Union-wide tracking system for pollinating species based on the EU nature restoration law, which will aid in following our advancement. Now, we need to concentrate on application and collaboration with participating nations to safeguard our pollinators,” she said.
The issuance of the bee and butterfly assessments is subsequent to the first Europe-wide study on hoverflies, a further crucial pollinator group. Published in twenty-twenty-two, it disclosed that over one-third of all hoverfly species in the European continent were threatened with extinction.
