The number of wild bee types in the European continent facing dying out has increased twofold during the previous ten-year period, and the number of threatened butterfly has almost doubled.
This pressing issue for vital pollinating species was unveiled by research studies for the IUCN red list, which found that at least over 170 bee species out of over 1900 were threatened with extinction in European nations.
The number of butterfly species at risk of extinction in Europe has increased from over thirty-five to 65 since the previous assessment, performed a decade and a half ago. One species, the Madeiran large white (Pieris wollastoni) has now been declared extinct.
“Beyond their visual charm and cultural importance, pollinating insects like bees and butterflies are lifelines for our well-being, our food chains and our financial structures – sustaining the fruits, vegetables and seeds that nourish us,” commented Grethel Aguilar. “The latest European red list evaluations reveal serious challenges, with risks mounting for butterfly species and essential wild bee species.”
The factors of the rapid recent declines are the continuing harm or degradation of living environments caused by intensive agriculture and deserted farmland, draining of wetlands, overgrazing by livestock, and the use of pesticides and fertilisers including neonicotinoids. The breaking up of habitat friendly to pollinators significantly raises the danger of extinctions at local level.
Global warming is also revealed to be a significant danger: 52% of all threatened butterflies in the European continent are endangered by the climate crisis – about double the number as a decade ago.
Up to ninety percent of plants that flower in European nations depend on animal pollination, as per the lead coordinator of the wild bee assessment. “Unfortunately, wild bee populations are in severe drop and cannot readily be substituted by managed bee colonies,” he said. “If wild bees disappear, many wild plants might be threatened too – of which flower-rich meadows and attractive orchid varieties are just a handful of illustrations.”
Fifteen species of bumblebee species, which have an essential part in fertilizing crops such as peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and 14 species of cellophane bee types, recognized for fertilizing trees such as willows and red maples, are now categorized as at-risk. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee species found only in the continent and the only species of this biological genus in the European continent, is now evaluated as critically at risk – the research category nearest to dying out in natural habitats.
Butterflies that are only found on mountain peaks are highly susceptible to climate change as they must ascend higher as their environments become warmer but eventually exhaust available space. In the southern part of Spain, the grayling of Nevada and the Andalusian anomalous blue are among over forty percent of European endemics (solely present in Europe) at risk of extinction.
In the Mediterranean area, varieties such as the critically endangered Karpathos grayling butterfly are imperilled by severe dry conditions and fires.
At the same time, in the Far North, global warming is leading to the forest boundary to shift northward by many meters each year, with underbrush encroaching on marsh and tundra. Hotter climates also mean caribou can not anymore cross the frozen water to feed on northern grasslands and maintain them clear. Eight butterfly species are at risk of extinction in this area, including the fritillary of Freyja and the Arctic ringlet.
“The greatest environment for all these pollinators is flower-rich grassland and that is vanishing rapidly throughout Europe because of all these factors,” stated Martin Warren. “The good news is that so many people care now and there’s a lot more understanding. Under the EU’s nature restoration regulation, all member states have to turn around the decrease in pollinating species by the year 2030, and they are going to have to begin taking action. There are landowners who are engaged. It is hoped they can receive the motivations that will support them on their way.”
As per Warren, there is “easy opportunities” in terms of measures for pollinators which will not lower food production – and might boost it – such as agricultural producers creating margins rich in flowers around their cultivated areas.
EU commissioner for environment, described the protection status of non-managed bees, butterfly species and other pollinating insects as “severe”.
“Immediate and joint measures is required to address this threat. In collaboration with participating nations, the EU Commission has put in place 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 implementation and collaboration with member countries to preserve our pollinating insects,” she said.
The release of the assessments on bees and butterflies comes after the first European-wide evaluation of hoverflies, an additional vital pollinating insect category. Published in 2022, it revealed that 37% of all hoverfly varieties in Europe were facing extinction.
