The number of native bee types in the European continent facing dying out has increased twofold over the past decade, while the number of threatened butterfly has almost doubled.
This dire scenario for crucial pollinating insects was unveiled by research studies for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list, which found that at least 172 bee varieties out of nearly two thousand were facing extinction in Europe.
The number of butterfly types facing extinction in European nations has grown from over thirty-five to sixty-five since the earlier research, carried out 14 years ago. One type, the Madeiran large white butterfly (Pieris wollastoni) has now been classified as extinct.
“Beyond their aesthetic appeal and cultural significance, pollinating insects like bees and butterfly species are essential supports for our physical condition, our food systems and our economies – sustaining the fruits, veggies and seeds that feed us,” said the IUCN’s director general. “The newest assessments of the European red list reveal serious challenges, with threats increasing for butterfly species and vital non-managed bee types.”
The factors of the rapid recent declines are the persistent harm or degradation of living environments caused by intensive agriculture and land abandonment, wetland drainage, livestock overgrazing, and the utilization of chemical fertilisers and pesticides including neonicotinoid chemicals. The fragmentation of pollinator-friendly habitat significantly raises the danger of extinctions at local level.
Global warming is also revealed to be a major threat: 52% of all threatened butterflies in European nations are threatened by the climate emergency – roughly twofold the amount as a ten years ago.
Nearly nine out of ten of blooming plants in the European continent depend on animal pollination, according to the lead coordinator of the wild bee assessment. “Unfortunately, wild bee colonies are in severe drop and cannot be easily replaced by domesticated hives,” he said. “If wild bees disappear, many non-cultivated plants might be in danger as well – of which bloom-filled grasslands and beautiful orchid species are just a handful of illustrations.”
Fifteen species of bumblebee species, which have an essential part in pollinating crops such as peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and 14 species of cellophane bee types, famous for fertilizing trees such as willows along with red maples, are now classified as threatened. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee found only in the continent and the sole species of this genus group in Europe, is now classified as critically endangered – the scientific category most akin to extinction in the wild.
Butterfly types that are exclusively located on mountain peaks are particularly vulnerable to climate change as they have to climb upward as their living spaces become warmer but ultimately exhaust available space. In the southern part of Spain, the Nevada grayling and the Andalusian anomalous blue butterfly are among over forty percent of species endemic to Europe (solely present in Europe) threatened with extinction.
In the Mediterranean, species such as the highly at-risk Karpathos grayling are endangered by severe wildfires and drought.
In the meantime, in the Arctic region, global warming is causing the forest boundary to move north by tens of metres each year, with scrub encroaching on bog and tundra. Higher temperatures also mean reindeer can no more cross the ice to feed on northern grasslands and prevent them from overgrowing. Eight butterfly species are facing extinction in this area, including Freyja’s fritillary and the ringlet of the Arctic.
“The biggest habitat for all these pollinators is bloom-filled grassy areas and that is disappearing very fast across the European continent because of all these elements,” said one of the lead coordinators of the butterflies assessment. “The good news is that so many citizens 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 pollinators by twenty-thirty, and they are going to have to start doing something. There are landowners who are interested. Let’s hope they can obtain the encouragements that will assist them on their way.”
According to Martin Warren, there is “readily achievable actions” in terms of measures for pollinators which will not lower crop yields – and could improve it – such as farmers creating flower-rich margins around their farmland.
Jessika Roswall, described the preservation condition of native bees, butterflies and additional pollinators as “critical”.
“Immediate and joint measures is necessary to address this danger. Together with participating nations, the EU Commission has established an EU-wide observation system for pollinators based on the EU nature restoration law, which will assist in monitoring our advancement. Now, we need to focus on execution and cooperation with member states to safeguard our pollinating species,” she said.
The release of the assessments on bees and butterflies is subsequent to the initial European-wide evaluation of hoverflies, another essential group of pollinators. Published in twenty-twenty-two, it showed that 37% of all hoverfly types in European nations were facing extinction.
