The number of non-managed bee types in Europe experiencing disappearance has increased twofold during the previous ten-year period, and the count of endangered butterfly types has close to doubled.
This dire scenario for vital pollinating insects was unveiled by scientific studies for the IUCN red list, which found that at least over 170 bee varieties out of over 1900 were threatened with extinction in Europe.
The total of butterfly types threatened with extinction in European nations has increased from over thirty-five to 65 since the previous assessment, performed over a decade past. A single species, the large white of Madeira (Pieris wollastoni) has now been classified as extinct.
“Beyond their aesthetic appeal and cultural significance, pollinating insects like bees along with butterflies are lifelines for our well-being, our food chains and our economic systems – sustaining the produce, vegetables and seeds that sustain us,” said the IUCN director general. “The newest assessments of the European red list reveal significant difficulties, with threats increasing for butterflies and vital wild bee varieties.”
The factors of the quick recent decreases are the persistent harm or degradation of habitats caused by intensive agriculture and deserted farmland, draining of wetlands, excessive grazing by animals, and the use of pesticides and fertilisers including neonicotinoids. The division of habitat friendly to pollinators significantly raises the danger of local extinctions.
Global heating is also demonstrated to be a primary risk: Fifty-two percent of all endangered butterfly types in the European continent are threatened by the climate change crisis – about twice as many as a decade ago.
Nearly 90% of plants that flower in European nations depend on pollination by animals, as stated by the lead coordinator of the wild bee assessment. “Sadly, native bee colonies are in drastic decline and cannot be easily replaced by managed bee colonies,” he said. “If non-managed bees disappear, many wild plants might be in danger as well – of which meadows rich in flowers and attractive orchid varieties are just a few examples.”
Fifteen types of bumblebee species, which perform a vital function in pollinating crops such as peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and fourteen varieties of cellophane bee types, recognized for aiding tree pollination such as willows and red maples, are now listed as threatened. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee species unique to the mainland and the sole species of this genus in the European continent, is now assessed as critically at risk – the scientific category closest to dying out in natural habitats.
Butterflies that are only found on high-altitude areas are particularly vulnerable to global heating as they have to climb upward as their habitats become more heated but ultimately have no room left. In southern Spain, the grayling of Nevada and the Andalusian anomalous blue are among more than 40% of types unique to Europe (exclusive to Europe) facing extinction.
In the Mediterranean region, types such as the critically endangered grayling of Karpathos are threatened by intense drought and wildfires.
Meanwhile, in the Far North, global heating is resulting in the forest boundary to shift northward by dozens of meters each year, with bushes taking over bog and tundra. Warmer conditions also mean reindeer can not anymore cross the ice sheets to graze northern grasslands and keep them open. Eight butterfly species are facing extinction in this zone, including Freyja’s fritillary and the Arctic ringlet butterfly.
“The biggest habitat for all these pollinators is flower-rich grassland and that is vanishing rapidly across the European continent because of all these factors,” stated Martin Warren. “The good news is that so many people care now and there’s a lot more awareness. Under the EU’s nature restoration regulation, all member states have to reverse the decline in pollinating insects by the year 2030, and they are going to have to initiate measures. There are landowners who are interested. We hope they can receive the encouragements that will assist them on their way.”
According to Warren, there is “readily achievable actions” in terms of measures for pollinating species which will not lower food production – and could improve it – such as agricultural producers establishing flower-rich margins around their fields.
the EU’s environment commissioner, characterized the conservation status of native bees, butterflies and additional pollinators as “dire”.
“Immediate and joint measures is required to tackle this threat. Together with member countries, the European Commission has implemented an European Union-wide monitoring system for pollinators based on the EU nature restoration law, which will assist in monitoring our development. Now, we need to prioritize implementation and collaboration with member countries to safeguard our pollinating insects,” she said.
The release of the evaluations of bees along with butterflies is subsequent to the first EU-wide assessment of hoverflies, another essential pollinator group. Issued in 2022, it showed that thirty-seven percent of all hoverfly species in Europe were facing extinction.
