The count of non-managed bee varieties in the European continent experiencing disappearance has increased twofold over the past decade, and the count of threatened butterfly species has almost doubled.
This pressing issue for crucial pollinating insects was disclosed by research studies for the IUCN red list, which determined that at least over 170 bee types out of over 1900 were facing extinction in the European continent.
The number of butterflies threatened with extinction in European nations has grown from thirty-seven to over sixty since the previous assessment, carried out over a decade past. One species, the Madeiran large white (Pieris wollastoni) has now been confirmed extinct.
“Beyond their aesthetic appeal and cultural significance, pollinating insects like bees and butterfly species are lifelines for our physical condition, our food systems and our economic systems – sustaining the produce, vegetables and seeds that sustain us,” said Grethel Aguilar. “The most recent European red list evaluations reveal significant difficulties, with dangers growing for butterfly species and vital native bee varieties.”
The causes of the quick recent decreases are the ongoing damage or destruction of living environments caused by agricultural intensification and deserted farmland, draining wetlands, livestock overgrazing, and the application of chemical fertilisers and pesticides including neonicotinoid chemicals. The fragmentation of habitat friendly to pollinators substantially boosts the threat of local extinctions.
Global heating is also shown to be a major threat: 52% of all threatened butterfly types in European nations are threatened by the climate emergency – approximately twice as many as a decade ago.
Up to 90% of plants that flower in the European continent rely on insect pollination, according to the wild bee assessment’s lead coordinator. “Unfortunately, native bee populations are in severe drop and cannot be easily replaced by domesticated hives,” he said. “If non-managed bees disappear, many wild plants might be threatened too – of which bloom-filled grasslands and attractive orchid varieties are just a handful of illustrations.”
15 varieties of bumblebee types, which play a crucial role in pollinating crops such as peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and 14 types of cellophane bees, famous for aiding tree pollination such as willow trees and red maples, are now classified as threatened. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee exclusive to the continent and the single type of this genus in the European continent, is now evaluated as severely threatened – the scientific classification most akin to extinction in the wild.
Butterfly types that are exclusively located on mountain tops are particularly vulnerable to global warming as they must ascend higher as their environments become more heated but in the end run out of space. In Spain’s southern region, the grayling of Nevada and the anomalous blue of Andalusia are among over forty percent of European endemics (only found in Europe) at risk of extinction.
In the Mediterranean, varieties such as the critically endangered Karpathos grayling butterfly are imperilled by extreme drought and wildfires.
Meanwhile, in the Arctic Circle, global warming is causing the timberline to move north by tens of metres each year, with scrub taking over wetlands and tundra. Higher temperatures also mean Arctic deer can no longer cross the ice to graze Arctic meadows and maintain them clear. Eight types of butterflies are facing extinction in this zone, including Freyja’s fritillary and the ringlet of the Arctic.
“The largest living space for all these pollinating species is grassland rich in flowers and that is disappearing very fast across 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 concerned now and there’s a lot more understanding. Under the EU’s nature restoration regulation, all participating nations have to halt the drop in pollinating species by the year 2030, and they are going to have to start doing something. There are landowners who are involved. We hope they can obtain the encouragements that will help them on their way.”
As stated by Martin Warren, there is “low-hanging fruit” in terms of measures for pollinators which will not decrease agricultural output – and might boost it – such as agricultural producers establishing margins rich in flowers around their cultivated areas.
the EU’s environment commissioner, portrayed the protection status of native bees, butterflies and additional pollinators as “severe”.
“Prompt and unified steps is required to address this risk. In collaboration with member countries, the EU Commission has put in place an Europe-wide tracking system for pollinating species based on the European Union nature restoration legislation, which will assist in monitoring our development. Now, we need to concentrate on implementation and collaboration with member countries to preserve our pollinating species,” she said.
The issuance of the bee and butterfly assessments follows the pioneering European-wide assessment of hoverflies, an additional crucial pollinating insect category. Released in 2022, it showed that 37% of all hoverfly varieties in the European continent were at risk of extinction.
