The count of non-managed bee species in European nations confronting extinction has increased twofold during the previous ten-year period, while the number of endangered butterfly species has close to doubled.
This critical situation for crucial pollinating insects was unveiled by scientific studies for the IUCN red list, which found that at least one hundred seventy-two bee species out of nearly two thousand were at risk of extinction in Europe.
The number of butterflies threatened with extinction in the European continent has grown from 37 to sixty-five since the earlier research, carried out a decade and a half ago. One species, the large white of Madeira (Pieris wollastoni) has now been declared extinct.
In addition to their beauty and cultural importance, pollinating species like bees and butterfly species are essential supports for our physical condition, our food chains and our economies – maintaining the produce, vegetables and seeds that nourish us,” commented the IUCN’s director general. “The most recent assessments of the European red list reveal serious challenges, with risks increasing for butterfly species and vital native bee types.”
The causes of the quick recent decreases are the ongoing destruction or damage of living environments caused by farming intensification and deserted farmland, wetland drainage, livestock overgrazing, and the application of chemical fertilisers and pesticides including neonicotinoid pesticides. The breaking up of habitat friendly to pollinators significantly raises the risk of extinctions at local level.
Climate change is also revealed to be a major threat: Over half of all at-risk butterfly species in European nations are endangered by the climate change crisis – about double the number as a ten years ago.
Nearly ninety percent of plants that flower in the European continent depend on insect pollination, as per Dr Denis Michez. “Regrettably, native bee groups are in sharp decrease and cannot readily be substituted by managed colonies,” he said. “If native bees vanish, many wild plants might be threatened too – of which bloom-filled grasslands and beautiful orchid species are just a few examples.”
Fifteen types of bumblebee types, which play a crucial role in aiding the pollination of crops such as peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and 14 species of cellophane bees, 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 mainland and the sole species of this biological genus in the European continent, is now assessed as severely threatened – the scientific classification nearest to disappearance in the wild.
Butterfly types that are exclusively located on mountain peaks are highly susceptible to global warming as they need to move uphill as their living spaces become hotter but ultimately run out of space. In Spain’s southern region, the Nevada grayling butterfly and the Andalusian anomalous blue butterfly are among over forty percent of species endemic to Europe (only found in Europe) facing extinction.
In the Mediterranean area, species such as the highly at-risk Karpathos grayling are threatened by extreme dry conditions and fires.
At the same time, in the Arctic region, global warming is resulting in the tree line to advance northwards by tens of metres each year, with underbrush taking over wetlands and tundra. Hotter climates also mean reindeer can not anymore cross the ice to graze Arctic meadows and prevent them from overgrowing. 8 butterfly varieties are threatened with extinction in this area, including the fritillary of Freyja and the Arctic ringlet.
“The greatest living space for all these pollinators is grassland rich in flowers and that is disappearing very fast throughout European nations because of all these elements,” remarked one of the lead coordinators of the butterflies assessment. “The positive thing is that so many individuals are aware now and there’s a lot more consciousness. Under the EU’s nature restoration regulation, all member states have to reverse the drop in pollinating insects by twenty-thirty, and they are going to have to begin taking action. There are landowners who are interested. Let’s hope they can obtain the incentives that will help them on their way.”
As stated by Warren, there is “readily achievable actions” in terms of measures for pollinating species which will not decrease food production – and could improve it – such as farmers developing bloom-filled edges around their cultivated areas.
the EU’s environment commissioner, portrayed the conservation status of wild bees, butterflies and other pollinators as “dire”.
“Prompt and unified steps is required to address this threat. Along with participating nations, the EU Commission has implemented an European Union-wide monitoring system for pollinating species based on the EU nature restoration law, which will help to track our development. Now, we need to prioritize execution and collaboration with member countries to safeguard our pollinating insects,” she said.
The publication of the evaluations of bees along with butterflies follows the initial EU-wide study on hoverflies, a further vital pollinating insect category. Issued in twenty-twenty-two, it disclosed that 37% of all hoverfly species in the European continent were facing extinction.
