The number of native bee species in the European continent facing dying out has increased twofold in the last ten years, and the total of threatened butterfly types has close to doubled.
This critical situation for crucial pollinating insects was revealed by scientific assessments for the red list of threatened species, which determined that at least one hundred seventy-two bee types out of over 1900 were threatened with extinction in Europe.
The count of butterfly types at risk of extinction in European nations has grown from 37 to over sixty since the previous assessment, carried out over a decade past. A single species, the Madeiran large white (Pieris wollastoni) has now been confirmed extinct.
In addition to their aesthetic appeal and cultural value, pollinating species like bees and butterflies are essential supports for our well-being, our food supplies and our economies – sustaining the fruits, vegetables and seeds that feed us,” said Grethel Aguilar. “The newest assessments of the European red list reveal significant difficulties, with dangers increasing for butterfly species and essential non-managed bee varieties.”
The causes of the swift recent drops are the persistent harm or degradation of natural habitats caused by intensive agriculture and land abandonment, wetland drainage, overgrazing by livestock, and the use of pesticides and fertilisers including neonicotinoids. The breaking up of habitat friendly to pollinators significantly raises the danger of extinctions at local level.
Global heating is also revealed to be a primary risk: Fifty-two percent of all at-risk butterfly types in the European continent are threatened by the climate emergency – roughly twofold the amount as a previous decade.
Up to 90% of plants that flower in Europe rely on insect pollination, as per the wild bee assessment’s lead coordinator. “Sadly, wild bee populations are in drastic decline and cannot be easily replaced by managed bee colonies,” he said. “If non-managed bees die out, many non-cultivated plants might be in danger as well – of which meadows rich in flowers and lovely orchid types are just a few examples.”
15 varieties of bumblebee types, which play a crucial role in aiding the pollination of peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and 14 species of cellophane bees, recognized for aiding tree pollination such as willows and red maples, are now categorized as at-risk. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee type exclusive to the continent and the only species of this biological genus in Europe, is now evaluated as critically endangered – the scientific classification nearest to extinction in the wild.
Butterflies that are exclusively located on high-altitude areas are particularly vulnerable to global warming as they must ascend higher as their environments become more heated but in the end exhaust available space. In the southern part of Spain, the grayling of Nevada and the Andalusian anomalous blue butterfly are among above 40 percent of types unique to Europe (exclusive to Europe) at risk of extinction.
In the Mediterranean region, species such as the severely threatened Karpathos grayling butterfly are endangered by severe dry conditions and fires.
In the meantime, in the Arctic region, global heating is causing the timberline to advance northwards by tens of metres each year, with underbrush invading bog and tundra. Hotter climates also mean reindeer can no more cross the ice to feed on northern grasslands and keep them open. Eight butterfly species are threatened with extinction in this region, including Freyja’s fritillary butterfly and the Arctic ringlet.
“The biggest environment for all these pollinating species is flower-rich grassland and that is vanishing rapidly in Europe because of all these factors,” said a lead coordinator for the butterfly assessment. “The good news is that so many people care now and there’s a lot more understanding. Under the European Union nature restoration law, all participating nations have to turn around the decline in pollinating insects by twenty-thirty, and they are going to have to initiate measures. There are property owners who are interested. We hope they can obtain the encouragements that will assist them on their way.”
As per Warren, there is “easy opportunities” in terms of action for pollinating insects which won’t reduce food production – and may enhance it – such as agricultural producers establishing flower-rich margins around their fields.
EU commissioner for environment, described the protection status of native bees, butterflies and additional pollinators as “severe”.
“Immediate and joint measures is necessary to tackle this risk. Along with member countries, the Commission of the European Union has implemented an EU-wide observation system for pollinators based on the European Union nature restoration legislation, which will help to track our progress. Now, we need to focus on application and collaboration with member countries to preserve our pollinating species,” she said.
The issuance of the assessments on bees and butterflies comes after the initial EU-wide evaluation of hoverflies, an additional vital pollinating insect category. Published in 2022, it disclosed that over one-third of all hoverfly varieties in European nations were facing extinction.
