The total of non-managed bee types in Europe facing dying out has over doubled in the last ten years, whereas the number of threatened butterfly species has close to doubled.
This pressing issue for essential pollinators was disclosed by research studies for the IUCN red list, which determined that at least over 170 bee species out of 1,928 were at risk of extinction in Europe.
The count of butterflies facing extinction in European nations has risen from thirty-seven to over sixty since the previous assessment, carried out over a decade past. A single species, the Madeiran large white (Pieris wollastoni) has now been confirmed extinct.
In addition to their beauty and cultural value, pollinators like bees along with butterflies are lifelines for our health, our food chains and our economic systems – maintaining the fruits, vegetables and seeds that feed us,” commented the IUCN’s director general. “The latest European red list evaluations reveal significant difficulties, with risks growing for butterfly types and vital wild bee species.”
The reasons of the quick recent decreases are the ongoing damage or destruction of natural habitats caused by intensive agriculture and land abandonment, draining wetlands, livestock overgrazing, and the use of fertilisers and pesticides including neonicotinoid pesticides. The division of pollinator-friendly habitat significantly raises the threat of extinctions at local level.
Climate change is also revealed to be a significant danger: Over half of all threatened butterflies in European nations are endangered by the climate change crisis – roughly twofold the amount as a ten years ago.
As many as ninety percent of blooming plants in the European continent rely on pollination by animals, according to the lead coordinator of the wild bee assessment. “Regrettably, native bee groups are in severe drop and cannot readily be substituted by managed colonies,” he said. “If non-managed bees disappear, many native plants might be at risk too – of which meadows rich in flowers and attractive orchid varieties are just a few examples.”
Fifteen types of bumblebee types, which have an essential part in pollinating legumes like peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and 14 types of cellophane bee types, recognized for pollinating trees such as willow trees and red maples, are now listed as threatened. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee type exclusive to the mainland and the single type of this genus group in the European continent, is now classified as severely threatened – the scientific category nearest to dying out in natural habitats.
Butterfly types that are solely present on high-altitude areas are highly susceptible to global warming as they must ascend higher as their living spaces become more heated but ultimately exhaust available space. In Spain’s southern region, the grayling of Nevada and the Andalusian anomalous blue butterfly are among over forty percent of species endemic to Europe (exclusive to Europe) threatened with extinction.
In the Mediterranean area, types such as the severely threatened grayling of Karpathos are imperilled by severe dry conditions and fires.
Meanwhile, in the Arctic region, climate change is causing the timberline to advance northwards by many meters each year, with scrub taking over marsh and tundra. Warmer conditions also mean caribou can not anymore cross the ice sheets to browse Arctic meadows and prevent them from overgrowing. Eight butterfly species are threatened with extinction in this region, including the fritillary of Freyja and the ringlet of the Arctic.
“The biggest habitat for all these pollinating species is bloom-filled grassy areas and that is declining quickly throughout the European continent because of all these reasons,” stated a lead coordinator for the butterfly assessment. “The positive thing is that so many individuals care now and there’s a lot more consciousness. Under the EU nature restoration legislation, all participating nations have to reverse the decrease in pollinating insects by 2030, and they are going to have to initiate measures. There are landowners who are interested. Let’s hope they can get the encouragements that will help them on their way.”
As stated by Martin Warren, there is “readily achievable actions” in terms of measures for pollinating insects which will not lower food production – and might boost it – such as agricultural producers developing margins rich in flowers around their fields.
EU commissioner for environment, portrayed the preservation condition of non-managed bees, butterfly species and other pollinating insects as “dire”.
“Prompt and unified steps is required to tackle this danger. Together with member states, the Commission of the European Union has put in place an European Union-wide observation system for pollinating species based on the EU nature restoration law, which will aid in following our advancement. Now, we need to focus on implementation and partnership with member states to protect our pollinators,” she said.
The issuance of the assessments on bees and butterflies comes after the initial European-wide study on hoverflies, an additional crucial pollinator group. Issued in 2022, it revealed that over one-third of all hoverfly types in the European continent were at risk of extinction.
