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Europewild bees and butterflies A new conservation assessment warns that we are facing a growing extinction crisis, calling for urgent action to reverse the “critical” status of these important birds. pollination,
Their decline poses a significant threat to natural systems and food production.
The latest European-level assessments for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)iucn) There are now over 100 wild bee species classified as threatened on the Red List.
This brings the total to 172 out of 1,928 assessed – meaning one in ten wild bees in Europe is now at risk, a sharp increase from 77 species in 2014.
According to the IUCN report, more than 20 percent of both bumblebee and cellophane bee species are endangered.
This includes 15 species of bumblebees, which are important for pollinating plants such as peas, beans and clover, and 14 species of cellophane bees, which are important to plants in the daisy family and trees such as red maple, which are now listed as endangered.
These essential insects are succumbing to the pressures of agriculture, pollution and rising temperatures, requiring immediate intervention.
The situation is also dire for Europe’s butterflies, with 65 of 442 assessed species, about 15 percent, facing threat of extinction, up from 37 species in 2010.
More than 40 percent of those butterflies, found only in Europe, are now endangered or threatened.
One species, the Madeiran large white – once found only on the Portuguese island of Madeira – is now officially classified as extinct, the IUCN said.
Protection experts That said, the biggest threat to wild pollinators is habitat loss, as land abandonment in less productive areas with more intensive agriculture and forestry means they are losing their traditional rural landscape homes, such as flower-rich grasslands.
The widespread use of nitrogen fertilizers and pesticides, including herbicides, which reduce flowering plant diversity, is also affecting many pollinators.
And climate change is bringing longer periods of hot weather, drought and wildfires that are becoming increasingly damaging. butterfly habitat in southern Europe and encroachment of bog and tundra habitats into alpine and more northern areas.
The IUCN warns that more than half (52 percent) of Europe’s threatened butterfly species are affected by climate change, and some species, such as the critically endangered Nevada grayling in south-east Spain, are suffering from a combination of habitat loss and global warming.
But the effects of warmer temperatures on bees are more mixed, with cold-adapted bumblebees being affected, while carpenter bees benefit from warmer conditions that accelerate their growth and reproduction.
Dr Martin Warren, former chief executive of Butterfly Conservation and one of the lead coordinators of the assessment of European butterflies, said: “Many European butterflies are at risk from habitat change due to rising temperatures.
“However, by ensuring that their habitats are managed as best as possible and that populations are large and robust, they have a chance.
“Others can be saved from extinction by preventing wildfires, which can destroy habitat for years.”
Dr Grethel Aguilar, Director-General of IUCN, said: “Beyond their beauty and cultural importance, pollinators like bees and butterflies are a lifeline to our health, our food systems and our economies – sustaining the fruits, vegetables and seeds that nourish us.
“In fact, four out of five crop and wild flower species in the EU depend on insect pollination.
“The latest European Red List assessment reveals serious challenges, with increasing threats to butterflies and important wild bee species.”
But, he added, it also provided the data needed to take immediate conservation action to reverse population declines.
For the first time since the beginning of 2010, a European-level assessment of different species groups was funded by the European Commission.
The Commission’s Environment Commissioner, Jessica Roswaal, said: “The new assessment shows that the conservation status of European wild bees, butterflies and other pollinators is critical.
“These are the foundations of our food systems, our ecosystems and our societies. Urgent and collective action is needed to tackle this threat,” he urged.