The total of native bee varieties in the European continent experiencing extinction has over doubled during the previous ten-year period, while the count of threatened butterfly has close to doubled.
This dire scenario for essential pollinating insects was revealed by scientific assessments for the red list of threatened species, which established that at least one hundred seventy-two bee species out of 1,928 were facing extinction in Europe.
The number of butterfly species threatened with extinction in European nations has grown from over thirty-five to sixty-five since the last study, carried out over a decade past. One type, the Madeiran large white butterfly (Pieris wollastoni) has now been confirmed extinct.
“Beyond their beauty and cultural value, pollinating species like bees and butterfly species are crucial elements for our well-being, our food systems and our financial structures – supporting the produce, vegetables and seeds that nourish us,” said the IUCN’s director general. “The newest European red list assessments reveal significant difficulties, with dangers growing for butterfly species and crucial wild bee varieties.”
The reasons of the swift recent drops are the persistent damage or destruction of living environments caused by farming intensification and deserted farmland, wetland drainage, overgrazing by livestock, and the application of chemical fertilisers and pesticides including neonicotinoid chemicals. The fragmentation of environments suitable for pollinators significantly raises the threat of extinctions at local level.
Climate change is also demonstrated to be a major threat: Over half of all endangered butterflies in the European continent are endangered by the climate emergency – approximately twice as many as a ten years ago.
As many as nine out of ten of flowering plants in European nations depend on animal pollination, as stated by the wild bee assessment’s lead coordinator. “Regrettably, non-managed bee groups are in drastic decline and cannot readily be substituted by managed bee colonies,” he said. “If non-managed bees vanish, many non-cultivated plants might be in danger as well – of which flower-rich meadows and attractive orchid varieties are just a handful of illustrations.”
Fifteen types of bumblebee species, which perform a vital function in fertilizing peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and 14 species of cellophane bee types, known for fertilizing trees such as willows and red maples, are now categorized as at-risk. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee unique to the European continent and the only species of this genus in the European continent, is now assessed as critically endangered – the research category most akin to dying out in natural habitats.
Butterfly species that are solely present on high-altitude areas are particularly vulnerable to climate change as they must ascend higher as their environments become more heated but in the end run out of space. In the southern part of Spain, the grayling of Nevada and the anomalous blue of Andalusia are among more than 40% of types unique to Europe (only found in Europe) at risk of extinction.
In the Mediterranean area, varieties such as the severely threatened Karpathos grayling are threatened by severe dry conditions and fires.
In the meantime, in the Arctic region, global warming is causing the tree line to move north by dozens of meters each year, with bushes invading marsh and tundra. Higher temperatures also mean caribou can no longer cross the ice sheets to graze Arctic grasslands and keep them open. Eight butterfly species are facing extinction in this region, including the fritillary of Freyja and the Arctic ringlet.
“The greatest environment for all these pollinators is flower-rich grassland and that is declining quickly throughout European nations because of all these reasons,” said a lead coordinator for the butterfly assessment. “The encouraging aspect is that so many individuals care now and there’s a lot more awareness. Under the EU’s nature restoration regulation, all member states have to halt the decrease in pollinating species by the year 2030, and they are going to have to start doing something. There are property owners who are interested. We hope they can get the incentives that will assist them on their way.”
As per Martin Warren, there is “easy opportunities” in terms of measures for pollinating insects which won’t reduce food production – and may enhance it – such as growers establishing bloom-filled edges around their fields.
Jessika Roswall, characterized the preservation condition of native bees, butterflies and additional pollinators as “critical”.
“Urgent and collective action is necessary to confront this threat. Along with member countries, the EU Commission has put in place an European Union-wide tracking system for pollinators based on the EU nature restoration law, which will assist in monitoring our development. Now, we need to concentrate on implementation and partnership with member states to preserve our pollinators,” she said.
The release of the evaluations of bees along with butterflies follows the first European-wide study on hoverflies, a further vital group of pollinators. Released in twenty-twenty-two, it disclosed that 37% of all hoverfly species in the European continent were at risk of extinction.
