The count of wild bee types in European nations confronting disappearance has over doubled in the last ten years, while the number of endangered butterfly has almost doubled.
This dire scenario for crucial pollinating insects was disclosed by scientific assessments for the IUCN red list, which found that at least one hundred seventy-two bee species out of over 1900 were at risk of extinction in the European continent.
The total of butterfly species facing extinction in the European continent has increased from thirty-seven to over sixty since the last study, carried out 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 species like bees and butterfly species are lifelines for our well-being, our food supplies and our economic systems – maintaining the produce, vegetables and seeds that sustain us,” commented the IUCN’s director general. “The newest European red list assessments reveal significant difficulties, with threats mounting for butterflies and crucial wild bee varieties.”
The causes of the rapid recent declines are the persistent harm or degradation of living environments caused by farming intensification and abandoned land, draining wetlands, excessive grazing by animals, and the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides including neonicotinoid chemicals. The fragmentation of pollinator-friendly habitat substantially boosts the danger of local extinctions.
Global warming is also shown to be a significant danger: 52% of all threatened butterflies in European nations are imperilled by the climate emergency – roughly twice as many as a previous decade.
Up to nine out of ten of blooming plants in the European continent rely on animal pollination, as per the wild bee assessment’s lead coordinator. “Sadly, native bee groups are in sharp decrease and are not easily replaceable by domesticated hives,” he said. “If wild bees die out, many native plants might be in danger as well – of which flower-rich meadows and beautiful orchid species are just a couple of instances.”
15 varieties of bumblebees, which perform a vital function in pollinating peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and 14 types of cellophane bees, recognized for fertilizing trees such as willows along with red maples, are now listed as threatened. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee species found only in the continent and the sole species of this biological genus in Europe, is now evaluated as critically at risk – the research category nearest to extinction in the wild.
Butterflies that are only found on mountain tops are particularly vulnerable to global warming as they need to move uphill as their environments become more heated but eventually exhaust available space. In the southern part of Spain, the grayling of Nevada and the anomalous blue of Andalusia are among over forty percent of European endemics (only found in Europe) threatened with extinction.
In the Mediterranean, species such as the critically endangered Karpathos grayling are endangered by extreme drought and wildfires.
In the meantime, in the Far North, global warming is leading to the tree line to shift northward by many meters each year, with scrub encroaching on wetlands and tundra. Higher temperatures also mean reindeer can not anymore cross the ice sheets to graze northern grasslands and prevent them from overgrowing. Eight types of butterflies are facing extinction in this zone, including the fritillary of Freyja and the ringlet of the Arctic.
“The greatest habitat for all these pollinating insects is grassland rich in flowers and that is declining quickly throughout Europe because of all these factors,” said one of the lead coordinators of the butterflies assessment. “The positive thing is that so many citizens are aware now and there’s a lot more consciousness. Under the EU nature restoration legislation, all member countries have to turn around the decline in pollinating species by 2030, and they are going to have to initiate measures. There are land holders who are engaged. It is hoped they can receive the motivations that will support them on their way.”
As per Martin Warren, there is “easy opportunities” in terms of steps for pollinators which won’t reduce agricultural output – and could improve it – such as agricultural producers creating bloom-filled edges around their fields.
Jessika Roswall, characterized the conservation status of native bees, butterflies and additional pollinators as “critical”.
“Prompt and unified steps is needed to address this threat. Along with participating nations, the EU Commission has put in place an European Union-wide monitoring system for pollinators based on the European Union nature restoration legislation, which will assist in monitoring our advancement. Now, we need to concentrate on execution and collaboration with member states to safeguard our pollinating species,” she said.
The publication of the assessments on bees and butterflies follows the pioneering EU-wide study on hoverflies, an additional crucial pollinator group. Published in 2022, it showed that 37% of all hoverfly species in European nations were threatened with extinction.
