Alarming Increase in Endangered Wild Bee Varieties Throughout European Nations
The number of non-managed bee species in the European continent experiencing disappearance has over doubled during the previous ten-year period, while the number of at-risk butterfly species has almost doubled.
This pressing issue for vital pollinating insects was revealed by scientific studies for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list, which established that at least one hundred seventy-two bee varieties out of nearly two thousand were threatened with extinction in Europe.
The number of butterflies threatened with extinction in Europe has risen from over thirty-five to sixty-five since the last study, carried out 14 years ago. A single species, the Madeiran large white (Pieris wollastoni) has now been confirmed extinct.
“Beyond their aesthetic appeal and cultural value, pollinating species like bees and butterflies are crucial elements for our well-being, our food supplies and our economies – sustaining the produce, vegetables and seeds that sustain us,” said Grethel Aguilar. “The most recent European red list evaluations reveal major obstacles, with threats growing for butterfly species and essential non-managed bee varieties.”
The reasons of the quick recent decreases are the persistent damage or destruction of living environments caused by farming intensification and land abandonment, draining of wetlands, livestock overgrazing, and the utilization of fertilisers and pesticides including neonicotinoid chemicals. The division of pollinator-friendly habitat significantly raises the threat of disappearances in specific areas.
Global warming is also shown to be a primary risk: 52% of all at-risk butterflies in the European continent are endangered by the climate emergency – about twofold the amount as a decade ago.
As many as 90% of flowering plants in European nations rely on animal pollination, as stated by the lead coordinator of the wild bee assessment. “Unfortunately, non-managed bee populations are in drastic decline and cannot readily be substituted by managed bee colonies,” he said. “If non-managed bees die out, many wild plants might be in danger as well – of which flower-rich meadows and lovely orchid types are just a few examples.”
15 varieties of bumblebee species, which play a crucial role in pollinating legumes like peas, beans, peanuts and clover, and fourteen varieties of cellophane bee types, famous for pollinating trees such as willows and red maples, are now listed as threatened. Simpanurgus phyllopodus, a mining bee species unique to the mainland and the single type of this genus in the European continent, is now assessed as critically endangered – the research category nearest to extinction in the wild.
Butterflies that are exclusively located on mountain peaks are particularly vulnerable to global heating as they have to climb upward as their living spaces become warmer but ultimately exhaust available space. In the southern part of Spain, the Nevada grayling and the anomalous blue of Andalusia are among above 40 percent of European endemics (only found in Europe) facing extinction.
In the Mediterranean area, species such as the critically endangered grayling of Karpathos are imperilled by intense drought and wildfires.
In the meantime, in the Arctic Circle, global heating is causing the tree line to move north by dozens of meters each year, with bushes invading wetlands and tundra. Warmer conditions also mean caribou can not anymore cross the ice to browse Arctic meadows and keep them open. Eight butterfly species are at risk of extinction in this zone, including the fritillary of Freyja and the Arctic ringlet butterfly.
“The greatest living space for all these pollinating insects is bloom-filled grassy areas and that is vanishing rapidly in Europe because of all these elements,” remarked a lead coordinator for the butterfly assessment. “The good news is that so many citizens are aware now and there’s a lot more understanding. Under the European Union nature restoration law, all member states have to turn around the decrease in pollinating species by twenty-thirty, and they are going to have to start doing something. There are land holders who are interested. Let’s hope they can get the encouragements that will assist them on their way.”
As per Warren, there is “low-hanging fruit” in terms of action for pollinating insects which won’t reduce crop yields – and could improve it – such as growers establishing flower-rich margins around their cultivated areas.
Jessika Roswall, described the conservation status of wild bees, butterflies and other pollinators as “severe”.
“Urgent and collective action is necessary to tackle this threat. Along with member states, the EU Commission has put in place an European Union-wide tracking system for pollinators based on the EU nature restoration law, which will aid in following our progress. Now, we need to concentrate on application and cooperation with participating nations to protect our pollinating insects,” she said.
The publication of the assessments on bees and butterflies is subsequent to the initial European-wide assessment of hoverflies, an additional essential group of pollinators. Issued in twenty-twenty-two, it revealed that over one-third of all hoverfly varieties in the European continent were threatened with extinction.