The number of native bee species in Europe facing extinction has over doubled over the past decade, whereas the total of at-risk butterfly species has nearly doubled.
This pressing issue for essential pollinating insects was unveiled by scientific assessments for the red list of threatened species, which determined that at least 172 bee types out of over 1900 were facing extinction in Europe.
The number of butterflies facing extinction in European nations has grown from over thirty-five to sixty-five since the earlier research, conducted a decade and a half ago. One species, the Madeiran large white (Pieris wollastoni) has now been classified as extinct.
“Beyond their beauty and cultural significance, pollinating insects like bees and butterfly species are essential supports for our health, our food systems and our economies – supporting the produce, vegetables and seeds that sustain us,” said the IUCN director general. “The newest assessments of the European red list reveal significant difficulties, with dangers increasing for butterfly species and vital wild bee types.”
The reasons of the rapid recent declines are the continuing destruction or damage of habitats caused by agricultural intensification and land abandonment, wetland drainage, overgrazing by livestock, and the use of pesticides and fertilisers including neonicotinoids. The fragmentation of habitat friendly to pollinators substantially boosts the danger of extinctions at local level.
Climate change is also shown to be a major threat: 52% of all endangered butterfly types in Europe are imperilled by the climate change crisis – about double the number as a previous decade.
As many as nine out of ten of blooming plants in the European continent rely on animal pollination, according to Dr Denis Michez. “Regrettably, wild bee populations are in drastic decline and are not easily replaceable by domesticated hives,” he said. “If wild bees die out, many native plants might be at risk too – of which flower-rich meadows and attractive orchid varieties are just a handful of illustrations.”
Fifteen types of bumblebee types, which perform a vital function in fertilizing legumes like peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and 14 species of cellophane bees, recognized for fertilizing trees such as willows and red maples, are now categorized as at-risk. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee found only in the mainland and the single type of this genus group in Europe, is now assessed as critically at risk – the research category closest to extinction in the wild.
Butterfly species that are only found on high-altitude areas are highly susceptible to global warming as they need to move uphill as their environments become warmer but ultimately have no room left. In the southern part of Spain, the Nevada grayling and the Andalusian anomalous blue are among over forty percent of species endemic to Europe (solely present in Europe) facing extinction.
In the Mediterranean, varieties such as the highly at-risk Karpathos grayling are endangered by severe wildfires and drought.
At the same time, in the Arctic Circle, global warming is resulting in the tree line to shift northward by many meters each year, with scrub invading bog and tundra. Hotter climates also mean Arctic deer can no more cross the ice to graze Arctic grasslands and keep them open. Eight types of butterflies are threatened with extinction in this area, including Freyja’s fritillary butterfly and the Arctic ringlet.
“The largest habitat for all these pollinators is flower-rich grassland and that is vanishing rapidly across Europe because of all these reasons,” said Martin Warren. “The positive thing is that so many citizens care now and there’s a lot more understanding. Under the EU nature restoration legislation, all participating nations have to turn around the decrease in pollinating species by 2030, and they are going to have to begin taking action. There are property owners who are engaged. We hope they can get the encouragements that will assist them on their way.”
As per Martin Warren, there is “readily achievable actions” in terms of measures for pollinators which won’t reduce crop yields – and could improve it – such as growers creating bloom-filled edges around their cultivated areas.
Jessika Roswall, described the preservation condition of native bees, butterflies and additional pollinators as “critical”.
“Urgent and collective action is necessary to confront this risk. Together with member states, the EU Commission has established an EU-wide observation system for pollinating species based on the EU nature restoration law, which will assist in monitoring our progress. Now, we need to prioritize implementation and collaboration with member states to safeguard our pollinators,” she said.
The issuance of the bee and butterfly assessments comes after the pioneering EU-wide study on hoverflies, an additional essential pollinating insect category. Published in 2022, it showed that thirty-seven percent of all hoverfly varieties in Europe were facing extinction.
