The total of wild bee varieties in European nations confronting extinction has more than doubled in the last ten years, and the total of endangered butterfly types has almost doubled.
This critical situation for vital pollinators was disclosed by research studies for the red list of threatened species, which determined that at least one hundred seventy-two bee varieties out of over 1900 were facing extinction in the European continent.
The count of butterfly types at risk of extinction in European nations has risen from thirty-seven to 65 since the previous assessment, carried out over a decade past. One species, the Madeiran large white butterfly (Pieris wollastoni) has now been confirmed extinct.
“Beyond their aesthetic appeal and cultural significance, pollinating insects like bees and butterfly species are essential supports for our well-being, our food chains and our economic systems – supporting the produce, vegetables and seeds that sustain us,” said the IUCN’s director general. “The newest assessments of the European red list reveal major obstacles, with threats growing for butterflies and vital non-managed bee varieties.”
The reasons of the rapid recent declines are the ongoing damage or destruction of living environments caused by farming intensification and land abandonment, draining of wetlands, livestock overgrazing, and the use of pesticides and fertilisers including neonicotinoids. The fragmentation of habitat friendly to pollinators substantially boosts the threat of local extinctions.
Global warming is also revealed to be a primary risk: Fifty-two percent of all at-risk butterflies in European nations are endangered by the climate emergency – approximately twofold the amount as a previous decade.
Nearly nine out of ten of plants that flower in Europe depend on pollination by animals, as stated by the wild bee assessment’s lead coordinator. “Unfortunately, wild bee populations are in sharp decrease and cannot be easily replaced by managed bee colonies,” he said. “If non-managed bees disappear, many non-cultivated plants might be at risk too – of which meadows rich in flowers and attractive orchid varieties are just a few examples.”
15 varieties of bumblebee types, which play a crucial role in pollinating legumes like peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and 14 species of cellophane bee species, known for aiding tree pollination such as willows along with red maples, are now classified as threatened. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee species exclusive to the continent and the sole species of this genus in the European continent, is now classified as severely threatened – the scientific classification nearest to extinction in the wild.
Butterfly types that are only found on mountain tops are highly susceptible to climate change as they need to move uphill as their living spaces become hotter but eventually exhaust available space. In Spain’s southern region, the Nevada grayling and the Andalusian anomalous blue are among over forty percent of species endemic to Europe (only found in Europe) threatened with extinction.
In the Mediterranean, varieties such as the severely threatened grayling of Karpathos are threatened by severe dry conditions and fires.
In the meantime, in the Arctic Circle, global heating is resulting in the timberline to advance northwards by dozens of meters each year, with underbrush invading wetlands and tundra. Hotter climates also mean reindeer can not anymore cross the frozen water to graze Arctic meadows and keep them open. Eight butterfly species are facing extinction in this region, including the fritillary of Freyja and the Arctic ringlet butterfly.
“The biggest habitat for all these pollinators is flower-rich grassland and that is vanishing rapidly across Europe because of all these elements,” stated Martin Warren. “The encouraging aspect is that so many people are aware 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 twenty-thirty, and they are going to have to start doing something. There are property owners who are engaged. It is hoped they can get the encouragements that will help them on their way.”
As per Martin Warren, there is “readily achievable actions” in terms of action for pollinating insects which will not decrease food production – and could improve it – such as agricultural producers establishing margins rich in flowers around their cultivated areas.
EU commissioner for environment, portrayed the preservation condition of native bees, butterflies and additional pollinators as “critical”.
“Immediate and joint measures is necessary to confront this risk. Along with member states, the European Commission has put in place an EU-wide tracking system for pollinators based on the EU nature restoration law, which will assist in monitoring our advancement. Now, we need to concentrate on implementation and cooperation with member countries to protect our pollinators,” she said.
The publication of the assessments on bees and butterflies is subsequent to the first EU-wide evaluation of hoverflies, another vital pollinator group. Issued in twenty-twenty-two, it revealed that 37% of all hoverfly varieties in Europe were threatened with extinction.
