The total of wild bee varieties in the European continent experiencing disappearance has increased twofold during the previous ten-year period, and the count of threatened butterfly has nearly doubled.
This critical situation for crucial pollinators was unveiled by scientific assessments for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list, which found that at least over 170 bee species out of over 1900 were threatened with extinction in the European continent.
The count of butterfly species threatened with extinction in the European continent has grown from thirty-seven to over sixty since the earlier research, performed a decade and a half ago. One species, the Madeiran large white butterfly (Pieris wollastoni) has now been classified as extinct.
In addition to their aesthetic appeal and cultural importance, pollinators like bees along with butterflies are crucial elements for our well-being, our food systems and our economic systems – maintaining the produce, vegetables and seeds that nourish us,” said Grethel Aguilar. “The most recent assessments of the European red list reveal significant difficulties, with risks increasing for butterfly species and essential native bee varieties.”
The causes of the swift recent drops are the persistent harm or degradation of natural habitats caused by farming intensification and abandoned land, draining wetlands, livestock overgrazing, and the use of pesticides and fertilisers including neonicotinoids. The breaking up of pollinator-friendly habitat substantially boosts the risk of local extinctions.
Global warming is also shown to be a significant danger: 52% of all endangered butterfly species in the European continent are imperilled by the climate emergency – about twofold the amount as a decade ago.
Nearly nine out of ten of plants that flower in the European continent require insect pollination, according to the lead coordinator of the wild bee assessment. “Regrettably, native bee colonies are in drastic decline and cannot be easily replaced by domesticated hives,” he said. “If native bees die out, many wild plants might be at risk too – of which meadows rich in flowers and beautiful orchid species are just a handful of illustrations.”
15 varieties of bumblebee species, which perform a vital function in aiding the pollination of legumes like peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and fourteen varieties of cellophane bee types, famous for aiding tree pollination such as willows along with red maples, are now categorized as at-risk. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee unique to the continent and the single type of this genus group in European nations, is now classified as critically at risk – the scientific category most akin to extinction in the wild.
Butterflies that are only found on high-altitude areas are highly susceptible to global warming as they must ascend higher as their living spaces become more heated but ultimately run out of space. In the southern part of Spain, the Nevada grayling butterfly and the Andalusian anomalous blue are among above 40 percent of European endemics (exclusive to Europe) threatened with extinction.
In the Mediterranean, species such as the highly at-risk Karpathos grayling butterfly are endangered by extreme drought and wildfires.
In the meantime, in the Arctic region, global heating is causing the forest boundary to shift northward by dozens of meters each year, with underbrush taking over bog and tundra. Higher temperatures also mean reindeer can not anymore cross the ice sheets to graze northern grasslands and keep them open. Eight types of butterflies are at risk of extinction in this region, including the fritillary of Freyja and the Arctic ringlet butterfly.
“The largest environment for all these pollinators is flower-rich grassland and that is vanishing rapidly across the European continent because of all these elements,” stated one of the lead coordinators of the butterflies assessment. “The good news 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 reverse the decrease in pollinators by twenty-thirty, and they are going to have to start doing something. There are landowners who are interested. It is hoped they can get the incentives that will assist them on their way.”
According to the coordinator, there is “low-hanging fruit” in terms of measures for pollinating species which won’t reduce crop yields – and might boost it – such as agricultural producers establishing margins rich in flowers around their farmland.
Jessika Roswall, described the protection status of native bees, butterflies and additional pollinators as “dire”.
“Immediate and joint measures is needed to confront this threat. Together with participating nations, the EU Commission has implemented an EU-wide observation system for pollinating species based on the European Union nature restoration legislation, which will help to track our advancement. Now, we need to focus on application and collaboration with member countries to protect our pollinating species,” she said.
The publication of the bee and butterfly assessments follows the pioneering Europe-wide assessment of hoverflies, an additional vital pollinating insect category. Released in 2022, it revealed that 37% of all hoverfly types in the European continent were at risk of extinction.
