The number of native bee varieties in Europe facing extinction has over doubled during the previous ten-year period, while the number of threatened butterfly types has nearly doubled.
This critical situation for essential pollinating species was revealed by scientific assessments for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list, which established that at least one hundred seventy-two bee varieties out of over 1900 were facing extinction in Europe.
The count of butterfly species facing extinction in Europe has increased from over thirty-five to over sixty since the last study, conducted over a decade past. A single species, the Madeiran large white butterfly (Pieris wollastoni) has now been classified as extinct.
“Beyond their beauty and cultural value, pollinating insects like bees along with butterflies are lifelines for our physical condition, our food systems and our financial structures – sustaining the fruits, vegetables and seeds that nourish us,” commented the IUCN’s director general. “The newest European red list evaluations reveal serious challenges, with risks growing for butterfly types and crucial wild bee types.”
The causes of the quick recent decreases are the ongoing harm or degradation of living environments caused by agricultural intensification and land abandonment, draining of wetlands, overgrazing by livestock, and the utilization of chemical fertilisers and pesticides including neonicotinoid chemicals. The breaking up of habitat friendly to pollinators significantly raises the threat of extinctions at local level.
Global warming is also revealed to be a primary risk: Fifty-two percent of all threatened butterfly species in European nations are threatened by the climate change crisis – about twofold the amount as a previous decade.
Nearly 90% of blooming plants in European nations rely on animal pollination, as stated by Dr Denis Michez. “Unfortunately, native bee groups are in sharp decrease and cannot readily be substituted by managed bee colonies,” he said. “If native bees die out, many wild plants might be threatened too – of which flower-rich meadows and attractive orchid varieties are just a couple of instances.”
15 varieties of bumblebee species, which have an essential part in fertilizing crops such as peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and 14 types of cellophane bee types, recognized for fertilizing trees such as willows along with red maples, are now categorized as at-risk. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee species found only in the mainland and the single type of this biological genus in European nations, is now classified as critically endangered – the scientific classification nearest to dying out in natural habitats.
Butterfly species that are only found on mountain peaks are highly susceptible to global warming as they have to climb upward as their environments become warmer but ultimately exhaust available space. In southern Spain, the Nevada grayling butterfly and the Andalusian anomalous blue butterfly are among over forty percent of European endemics (solely present in Europe) facing extinction.
In the Mediterranean area, varieties such as the critically endangered Karpathos grayling butterfly are threatened by intense wildfires and drought.
Meanwhile, in the Arctic region, global heating is causing the tree line to move north by tens of metres each year, with bushes encroaching on wetlands and tundra. Higher temperatures also mean reindeer can no longer cross the ice to feed on Arctic meadows and keep them open. Eight types of butterflies are threatened with extinction in this region, including Freyja’s fritillary and the Arctic ringlet.
“The biggest habitat for all these pollinating insects is bloom-filled grassy areas and that is vanishing rapidly in the European continent because of all these reasons,” stated one of the lead coordinators of the butterflies assessment. “The positive thing is that so many people are aware now and there’s a lot more understanding. Under the EU nature restoration legislation, all member states have to turn around the drop in pollinators by the year 2030, and they are going to have to begin taking action. There are landowners who are interested. We hope they can obtain the incentives that will help them on their way.”
As per the coordinator, there is “easy opportunities” in terms of action for pollinators which won’t reduce food production – and might boost it – such as growers creating margins rich in flowers around their farmland.
EU commissioner for environment, portrayed the protection status of non-managed bees, butterfly species and other pollinating insects as “dire”.
“Prompt and unified steps is necessary to address this risk. Along with member countries, the Commission of the European Union has implemented an European Union-wide observation system for pollinators based on the EU nature restoration law, which will aid in following our advancement. Now, we need to focus on implementation and collaboration with participating nations to protect our pollinating insects,” she said.
The issuance of the bee and butterfly assessments comes after the initial Europe-wide evaluation of hoverflies, an additional crucial pollinator group. Issued in 2022, it showed that 37% of all hoverfly varieties in Europe were at risk of extinction.
