The total of non-managed bee varieties in European nations experiencing disappearance has over doubled in the last ten years, whereas the total of endangered butterfly species has almost doubled.
This pressing issue for vital pollinating insects was revealed by research studies for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list, which found that at least 172 bee species out of nearly two thousand were facing extinction in Europe.
The count of butterflies threatened with extinction in the European continent has risen from 37 to over sixty since the previous assessment, conducted a decade and a half ago. One species, the Madeiran large white butterfly (Pieris wollastoni) has now been confirmed extinct.
Apart from their visual charm and cultural value, pollinating species like bees and butterflies are essential supports for our physical condition, our food supplies and our economic systems – supporting the produce, vegetables and seeds that nourish us,” said Grethel Aguilar. “The latest European red list assessments reveal serious challenges, with dangers mounting for butterflies and crucial wild bee varieties.”
The causes of the rapid recent declines are the persistent damage or destruction of living environments caused by agricultural intensification and abandoned land, wetland drainage, overgrazing by livestock, and the application of pesticides and fertilisers including neonicotinoid pesticides. The division of habitat friendly to pollinators greatly increases the threat of extinctions at local level.
Global heating is also demonstrated to be a major threat: 52% of all threatened butterflies in the European continent are threatened by the climate crisis – roughly twice as many as a ten years ago.
As many as nine out of ten of flowering plants in European nations require pollination by animals, as per the wild bee assessment’s lead coordinator. “Unfortunately, wild bee groups are in severe drop and cannot readily be substituted by domesticated hives,” he said. “If wild bees vanish, many non-cultivated plants might be threatened too – of which bloom-filled grasslands and lovely orchid types are just a few examples.”
Fifteen types of bumblebees, which play a crucial role in pollinating peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and fourteen varieties of cellophane bee species, recognized for aiding tree pollination such as willow trees and red maples, are now categorized as at-risk. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee species exclusive to the continent and the sole species of this genus group in European nations, is now classified as critically at risk – the research category closest to extinction in the wild.
Butterfly species that are exclusively located on mountain tops are particularly vulnerable to global warming as they need to move uphill as their environments become more heated but in the end exhaust available space. In southern Spain, the Nevada grayling and the Andalusian anomalous blue butterfly are among over forty percent of species endemic to Europe (solely present in Europe) at risk of extinction.
In the Mediterranean area, types such as the critically endangered grayling of Karpathos are threatened by severe wildfires and drought.
At the same time, in the Arctic Circle, global heating is leading to the forest boundary to shift northward by tens of metres each year, with underbrush taking over wetlands and tundra. Hotter climates also mean caribou can not anymore cross the frozen water to browse northern grasslands and keep them open. Eight types of butterflies are at risk of extinction in this area, including Freyja’s fritillary and the Arctic ringlet.
“The largest living space for all these pollinators is bloom-filled grassy areas and that is vanishing rapidly across Europe because of all these reasons,” remarked a lead coordinator for the butterfly assessment. “The good news is that so many individuals are aware now and there’s a lot more understanding. Under the European Union nature restoration law, all member countries have to turn around the drop in pollinators by the year 2030, and they are going to have to start doing something. There are property owners who are involved. Let’s hope they can obtain the incentives that will assist them on their way.”
According to Warren, there is “low-hanging fruit” in terms of steps for pollinating insects which will not decrease food production – and could improve it – such as growers creating bloom-filled edges around their cultivated areas.
the EU’s environment commissioner, described the protection status of non-managed bees, butterfly species and other pollinating insects as “dire”.
“Immediate and joint measures is necessary to address this danger. Together with member countries, the Commission of the European Union has put in place an Europe-wide observation system for pollinators based on the EU nature restoration regulation, which will aid in following our progress. Now, we need to focus on application and cooperation with member states to safeguard our pollinating species,” she said.
The release of the evaluations of bees along with butterflies is subsequent to the initial European-wide study on hoverflies, an additional vital pollinator group. Released in 2022, it showed that over one-third of all hoverfly varieties in Europe were facing extinction.
