The count of non-managed bee types in European nations experiencing disappearance has over doubled during the previous ten-year period, while the count of at-risk butterfly types has close to doubled.
This dire scenario for crucial pollinating species was disclosed by scientific assessments for the IUCN red list, which found that at least 172 bee types out of nearly two thousand were threatened with extinction in the European continent.
The total of butterflies at risk of extinction in European nations has risen from thirty-seven to over sixty since the previous assessment, carried out 14 years ago. A single species, the large white of Madeira (Pieris wollastoni) has now been confirmed extinct.
Apart from their visual charm and cultural importance, pollinating species like bees and butterflies are essential supports for our physical condition, our food systems and our economies – maintaining the fruits, veggies and seeds that nourish us,” stated the IUCN’s director general. “The latest European red list evaluations reveal significant difficulties, with threats growing for butterflies and vital wild bee types.”
The reasons of the swift recent drops are the persistent damage or destruction of living environments caused by intensive agriculture and land abandonment, draining of wetlands, overgrazing by livestock, and the use of fertilisers and pesticides including neonicotinoid chemicals. The breaking up of pollinator-friendly habitat significantly raises the risk of extinctions at local level.
Global warming is also revealed to be a significant danger: Fifty-two percent of all endangered butterfly species in Europe are endangered by the climate emergency – roughly twofold the amount as a decade ago.
Up to ninety percent of blooming plants in Europe rely on animal pollination, as per the wild bee assessment’s lead coordinator. “Unfortunately, non-managed bee colonies are in severe drop and cannot readily be substituted by domesticated hives,” he said. “If non-managed bees die out, many wild plants might be in danger as well – of which flower-rich meadows and lovely orchid types are just a couple of instances.”
Fifteen types of bumblebee types, which have an essential part in fertilizing crops such as peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and 14 species of cellophane bee species, famous for fertilizing trees such as willow trees and red maples, are now classified as threatened. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee species exclusive to the continent and the sole species of this biological genus in European nations, is now evaluated as severely threatened – the scientific category closest to disappearance in the wild.
Butterfly types that are only found on high-altitude areas are particularly vulnerable to climate change as they must ascend higher as their environments become warmer but ultimately have no room left. In southern Spain, the Nevada grayling butterfly and the anomalous blue of Andalusia are among over forty percent of species endemic to Europe (only found in Europe) at risk of extinction.
In the Mediterranean area, varieties such as the severely threatened grayling of Karpathos are threatened by severe drought and wildfires.
Meanwhile, in the Arctic Circle, climate change is leading to the tree line to shift northward by dozens of meters each year, with scrub encroaching on marsh and tundra. Hotter climates also mean Arctic deer can no more cross the ice sheets to graze northern grasslands and keep them open. Eight butterfly species are at risk of extinction in this zone, including the fritillary of Freyja and the Arctic ringlet.
“The biggest environment for all these pollinating insects is bloom-filled grassy areas and that is declining quickly throughout European nations because of all these elements,” stated Martin Warren. “The good news is that so many citizens are aware now and there’s a lot more awareness. Under the EU’s nature restoration regulation, all participating nations have to turn around the decrease in pollinating insects by twenty-thirty, and they are going to have to begin taking action. There are land holders who are interested. We hope they can obtain the motivations that will support them on their way.”
According to the coordinator, there is “readily achievable actions” in terms of measures for pollinators which won’t reduce food production – and could improve it – such as agricultural producers creating margins rich in flowers around their cultivated areas.
EU commissioner for environment, portrayed the conservation status of wild bees, butterflies and other pollinators as “dire”.
“Immediate and joint measures is required to confront this danger. In collaboration with participating nations, the Commission of the European Union has implemented 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 concentrate on application and cooperation with member states to safeguard our pollinating species,” she said.
The release of the evaluations of bees along with butterflies follows the initial EU-wide study on hoverflies, another crucial pollinating insect category. Published in twenty-twenty-two, it disclosed that 37% of all hoverfly species in Europe were at risk of extinction.
