The count of non-managed bee types in European nations confronting extinction has over doubled in the last ten years, while the total of at-risk butterfly has nearly doubled.
This dire scenario for crucial pollinating species was revealed by scientific studies for the IUCN red list, which found that at least over 170 bee varieties out of nearly two thousand were facing extinction in the European continent.
The total of butterfly species at risk of extinction in European nations has grown from 37 to over sixty since the earlier research, carried out a decade and a half ago. A single species, the Madeiran large white (Pieris wollastoni) has now been classified as extinct.
“Beyond their aesthetic appeal and cultural value, pollinating insects like bees and butterfly species are crucial elements for our well-being, our food chains and our financial structures – sustaining the produce, vegetables and seeds that sustain us,” said the IUCN’s director general. “The most recent assessments of the European red list reveal serious challenges, with threats growing for butterflies and essential wild bee types.”
The reasons of the quick recent decreases are the continuing damage or destruction of living environments caused by agricultural intensification and deserted farmland, draining of wetlands, overgrazing by livestock, and the use of pesticides and fertilisers including neonicotinoids. The division of environments suitable for pollinators significantly raises the danger of extinctions at local level.
Global heating is also demonstrated to be a major threat: 52% of all threatened butterfly types in European nations are endangered by the climate change crisis – approximately twice as many as a ten years ago.
Nearly ninety percent of plants that flower in Europe require insect pollination, as stated by Dr Denis Michez. “Sadly, non-managed bee colonies are in sharp decrease and cannot be easily replaced by domesticated hives,” he said. “If native bees vanish, many native plants might be at risk too – of which bloom-filled grasslands and attractive orchid varieties are just a couple of instances.”
Fifteen types of bumblebee species, which perform a vital function in aiding the pollination of peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and fourteen varieties of cellophane bee species, known for fertilizing trees such as willows along with red maples, are now categorized as at-risk. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee species exclusive to the continent and the single type of this genus in European nations, is now classified as severely threatened – the scientific category closest to disappearance in the wild.
Butterflies that are exclusively located on mountain peaks are highly susceptible to global warming as they have to climb upward as their habitats become hotter but eventually exhaust available space. In Spain’s southern region, the Nevada grayling and the Andalusian anomalous blue are among more than 40% of types unique to Europe (solely present in Europe) at risk of extinction.
In the Mediterranean, species such as the highly at-risk Karpathos grayling are endangered by extreme wildfires and drought.
Meanwhile, in the Far North, global warming is leading to the forest boundary to shift northward by dozens of meters each year, with bushes invading bog and tundra. Higher temperatures also mean reindeer can no more cross the ice sheets to feed on Arctic meadows and maintain them clear. 8 butterfly varieties are at risk of extinction in this region, including the fritillary of Freyja and the ringlet of the Arctic.
“The biggest living space for all these pollinators is bloom-filled grassy areas and that is declining quickly across European nations because of all these elements,” stated a lead coordinator for the butterfly assessment. “The good news is that so many citizens are concerned now and there’s a lot more consciousness. Under the EU nature restoration legislation, all member states have to turn around the decline in pollinating species by twenty-thirty, and they are going to have to initiate measures. There are landowners who are engaged. We hope they can obtain the encouragements that will support them on their way.”
According to the coordinator, there is “low-hanging fruit” in terms of measures for pollinators which will not lower food production – and might boost it – such as agricultural producers developing flower-rich margins around their fields.
Jessika Roswall, portrayed the conservation status of native bees, butterflies and additional pollinators as “severe”.
“Immediate and joint measures is needed to tackle this risk. Along with member states, the Commission of the European Union has put in place an European Union-wide tracking system for pollinating insects based on the European Union nature restoration legislation, which will aid in following our development. Now, we need to prioritize application and collaboration with participating nations to preserve our pollinating insects,” she said.
The issuance of the assessments on bees and butterflies follows the pioneering Europe-wide assessment of hoverflies, an additional crucial pollinator group. Issued in 2022, it disclosed that 37% of all hoverfly types in Europe were at risk of extinction.
