The total of wild bee species in Europe confronting disappearance has over doubled over the past decade, while the total of threatened butterfly has almost doubled.
This pressing issue for crucial pollinating insects was revealed by scientific studies for the IUCN red list, which found that at least one hundred seventy-two bee types out of nearly two thousand were threatened with extinction in the European continent.
The number of butterflies facing extinction in Europe has grown from 37 to over sixty since the previous assessment, carried out a decade and a half ago. One species, the large white of Madeira (Pieris wollastoni) has now been confirmed extinct.
In addition to their visual charm and cultural value, pollinating insects like bees and butterflies are essential supports for our well-being, our food systems and our economies – supporting the fruits, veggies and seeds that sustain us,” stated the IUCN’s director general. “The most recent European red list assessments reveal significant difficulties, with threats increasing for butterfly species and vital native bee types.”
The reasons of the quick recent decreases are the continuing harm or degradation of natural habitats caused by farming intensification and land abandonment, draining of wetlands, excessive grazing by animals, and the use of pesticides and fertilisers including neonicotinoid chemicals. The fragmentation of environments suitable for pollinators significantly raises the threat of local extinctions.
Climate change is also revealed to be a significant danger: 52% of all threatened butterflies in European nations are imperilled by the climate change crisis – approximately twice as many as a ten years ago.
Nearly ninety percent of plants that flower in European nations require insect pollination, as stated by the wild bee assessment’s lead coordinator. “Unfortunately, wild bee populations are in severe drop and cannot readily be substituted by domesticated hives,” he said. “If native bees disappear, many non-cultivated 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 play a crucial role in fertilizing peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and 14 species of cellophane bee types, recognized for aiding tree pollination such as willows along with red maples, are now categorized as at-risk. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee found only in the mainland and the single type of this genus in European nations, is now classified as severely threatened – the scientific classification closest to disappearance in the wild.
Butterfly types that are only found on mountain tops are particularly vulnerable to climate change as they need to move uphill as their environments become warmer but eventually run out of space. In the southern part of Spain, the grayling of Nevada and the anomalous blue of Andalusia are among more than 40% of European endemics (exclusive to Europe) at risk of extinction.
In the Mediterranean, species such as the critically endangered Karpathos grayling butterfly are endangered by intense dry conditions and fires.
In the meantime, in the Far North, global heating is resulting in the tree line to move north by many meters each year, with underbrush taking over wetlands and tundra. Warmer conditions also mean caribou can no longer cross the ice to graze Arctic grasslands and keep them open. Eight butterfly species are threatened with extinction in this zone, including Freyja’s fritillary butterfly and the Arctic ringlet.
“The greatest living space for all these pollinators is bloom-filled grassy areas and that is vanishing rapidly throughout the European continent because of all these reasons,” remarked one of the lead coordinators of the butterflies assessment. “The positive thing is that so many individuals are aware now and there’s a lot more awareness. Under the EU nature restoration legislation, all participating nations have to halt the decrease in pollinating species by 2030, and they are going to have to initiate measures. There are land holders who are interested. It is hoped they can obtain the motivations that will assist them on their way.”
As per Martin Warren, there is “low-hanging fruit” in terms of measures for pollinating species which won’t reduce food production – and might boost it – such as farmers creating margins rich in flowers around their cultivated areas.
EU commissioner for environment, characterized the preservation condition of non-managed bees, butterfly species and other pollinating insects as “dire”.
“Urgent and collective action is needed to address this danger. In collaboration with participating nations, the Commission of the European Union has put in place an EU-wide monitoring system for pollinating insects based on the EU nature restoration regulation, which will aid in following our development. Now, we need to concentrate on application and collaboration with participating nations to preserve our pollinating species,” she said.
The issuance of the assessments on bees and butterflies follows the initial European-wide evaluation of hoverflies, an additional crucial pollinator group. Published in twenty-twenty-two, it disclosed that 37% of all hoverfly varieties in European nations were threatened with extinction.
