The count of non-managed bee types in European nations experiencing disappearance has more than doubled during the previous ten-year period, while the count of at-risk butterfly species has nearly doubled.
This critical situation for vital pollinating insects was unveiled by research studies for the red list of threatened species, which found that at least 172 bee varieties out of nearly two thousand were facing extinction in European nations.
The total of butterfly types threatened with extinction in European nations has increased from thirty-seven to sixty-five since the previous assessment, conducted over a decade past. A single species, the Madeiran large white (Pieris wollastoni) has now been declared extinct.
Apart from their beauty and cultural importance, pollinating species like bees along with butterflies are crucial elements for our health, our food supplies and our economies – sustaining the produce, vegetables and seeds that feed us,” said the IUCN’s director general. “The most recent European red list assessments reveal major obstacles, with risks growing for butterflies and essential wild bee varieties.”
The factors of the rapid recent declines are the continuing harm or degradation of natural habitats caused by intensive agriculture and deserted farmland, wetland drainage, excessive grazing by animals, and the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides including neonicotinoids. The breaking up of environments suitable for pollinators greatly increases the threat of local extinctions.
Climate change is also revealed to be a significant danger: 52% of all endangered butterfly types in the European continent are threatened by the climate crisis – about twofold the amount as a ten years ago.
Nearly 90% of blooming plants in Europe require pollination by animals, according to the lead coordinator of the wild bee assessment. “Regrettably, non-managed bee groups are in drastic decline and cannot be easily replaced by managed colonies,” he said. “If wild bees disappear, many native plants might be at risk too – of which bloom-filled grasslands and lovely orchid types are just a few examples.”
15 varieties of bumblebee types, which have an essential part in fertilizing crops such as peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and 14 types of cellophane bee types, recognized for fertilizing trees such as willow trees and red maples, are now listed as threatened. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee exclusive to the mainland and the single type of this biological genus in European nations, is now evaluated as severely threatened – the scientific classification most akin to extinction in the wild.
Butterflies that are solely present on high-altitude areas are especially at risk to global warming as they must ascend higher as their habitats become warmer but in the end run out of space. In the southern part of Spain, the Nevada grayling and the Andalusian anomalous blue are among above 40 percent of species endemic to Europe (only found in Europe) facing extinction.
In the Mediterranean, types such as the severely threatened grayling of Karpathos are threatened by extreme dry conditions and fires.
At the same time, in the Far North, climate change is leading to the forest boundary to shift northward by tens of metres each year, with bushes encroaching on marsh and tundra. Warmer conditions also mean caribou can no more cross the ice sheets to browse Arctic meadows and keep them open. Eight types of butterflies are at risk of extinction in this zone, including Freyja’s fritillary and the Arctic ringlet butterfly.
“The biggest habitat for all these pollinating species is flower-rich grassland and that is declining quickly throughout the European continent because of all these reasons,” said one of the lead coordinators of the butterflies assessment. “The encouraging aspect is that so many citizens are concerned now and there’s a lot more awareness. Under the EU’s nature restoration regulation, all member countries have to turn around the decline in pollinating species by the year 2030, and they are going to have to initiate measures. There are property owners who are engaged. We hope they can receive the incentives that will support them on their way.”
As per Martin Warren, there is “low-hanging fruit” in terms of steps for pollinating species which will not lower crop yields – and might boost it – such as agricultural producers developing margins rich in flowers around their farmland.
EU commissioner for environment, described the protection status of wild bees, butterflies and other pollinators as “dire”.
“Prompt and unified steps is required to confront this risk. Along with member states, the EU Commission has put in place an European Union-wide observation system for pollinators based on the EU nature restoration regulation, which will help to track our progress. Now, we need to focus on execution and partnership with participating nations to preserve our pollinating species,” she said.
The issuance of the bee and butterfly assessments comes after the pioneering EU-wide evaluation of hoverflies, a further crucial pollinating insect category. Released in twenty-twenty-two, it disclosed that 37% of all hoverfly varieties in the European continent were at risk of extinction.
