The total of non-managed bee species in the European continent confronting dying out has over doubled during the previous ten-year period, while the count of threatened butterfly types has nearly doubled.
This pressing issue for crucial pollinators was disclosed by scientific assessments for the IUCN red list, which determined that at least 172 bee varieties out of 1,928 were at risk of extinction in Europe.
The total of butterfly types at risk of extinction in European nations has increased from 37 to 65 since the last study, carried out a decade and a half ago. One type, the Madeiran large white butterfly (Pieris wollastoni) has now been confirmed extinct.
In addition to their aesthetic appeal and cultural value, pollinators like bees and butterflies are essential supports for our health, our food systems and our financial structures – maintaining the fruits, vegetables and seeds that feed us,” commented the IUCN director general. “The most recent European red list evaluations reveal major obstacles, with threats mounting for butterflies and crucial non-managed bee varieties.”
The reasons of the quick recent decreases are the ongoing destruction or damage of habitats caused by intensive agriculture and land abandonment, draining of wetlands, overgrazing by livestock, and the use of fertilisers and pesticides including neonicotinoid pesticides. The breaking up of habitat friendly to pollinators significantly raises the danger of disappearances in specific areas.
Global heating is also revealed to be a major threat: Fifty-two percent of all endangered butterflies in the European continent are endangered by the climate change crisis – roughly double the number as a ten years ago.
Up to nine out of ten of flowering plants in the European continent require animal pollination, according to Dr Denis Michez. “Regrettably, wild bee populations are in severe drop and are not easily replaceable by managed colonies,” he said. “If non-managed bees disappear, many non-cultivated plants might be in danger as well – of which bloom-filled grasslands and lovely orchid types are just a couple of instances.”
15 varieties of bumblebee types, which have an essential part in fertilizing crops such as peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and fourteen varieties of cellophane bees, known for aiding tree pollination such as willow trees and red maples, are now classified as threatened. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee unique to the mainland and the single type of this genus group in the European continent, is now assessed as critically at risk – the research category most akin to dying out in natural habitats.
Butterfly species that are exclusively located on mountain peaks are highly susceptible to global warming as they need to move uphill as their habitats become warmer but in the end exhaust available space. In southern Spain, the Nevada grayling and the anomalous blue of Andalusia are among over forty percent of types unique to Europe (solely present in Europe) at risk of extinction.
In the Mediterranean, varieties such as the severely threatened Karpathos grayling are imperilled by extreme dry conditions and fires.
Meanwhile, in the Arctic region, climate change is leading to the forest boundary to shift northward by many meters each year, with bushes invading bog and tundra. Higher temperatures also mean Arctic deer can not anymore cross the ice sheets to browse Arctic grasslands and maintain them clear. 8 butterfly varieties are at risk of extinction in this area, including Freyja’s fritillary and the ringlet of the Arctic.
“The largest environment for all these pollinating insects is flower-rich grassland and that is vanishing rapidly in 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 people are concerned now and there’s a lot more awareness. Under the EU nature restoration legislation, all member countries have to reverse the decline in pollinating insects by twenty-thirty, and they are going to have to start doing something. There are property owners who are interested. Let’s hope they can receive the incentives that will help them on their way.”
As stated by the coordinator, there is “low-hanging fruit” in terms of action for pollinating insects which will not decrease agricultural output – and could improve it – such as farmers developing bloom-filled edges around their fields.
EU commissioner for environment, described the preservation condition of wild bees, butterflies and other pollinators as “severe”.
“Prompt and unified steps is required to confront this risk. In collaboration with member countries, the Commission of the European Union has implemented 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 prioritize execution and cooperation with participating nations to protect our pollinators,” she said.
The publication of the assessments on bees and butterflies follows the first EU-wide study on hoverflies, an additional essential pollinator group. Published in 2022, it disclosed that over one-third of all hoverfly types in Europe were facing extinction.
