Habitat loss and climate change are having a serious impact on Europe’s butterflies, beetles and dragonflies. The release of the latest European Red List, commissioned by the European Commission, shows that nine percent of butterflies, 11 percent of beetles that depend on decaying wood and 14 percent of dragonflies are threatened with extinction within Europe.

The new studies reveal that nearly a third (31 percent) of Europe’s 435 butterfly species have declining populations and 9 percent are already threatened with extinction.  A third of Europe’s butterflies (142 species) are found nowhere else in the world, and 22 of these endemic species (15 percent) are globally threatened.

This is the first time that the IUCN has assessed saproxylic beetles, which depend on decaying wood and play an essential role in recycling nutrients. A third of the 431 species assessed are unique to Europe. Almost 11 percent (46 species) are at risk of being lost from the region, and seven percent (29 species) are threatened with extinction at the global level. A further 13 percent (56 species) are listed as Near Threatened within Europe.

Dragonflies occur throughout Europe, with the highest numbers in southern France, the foothills of the Alps and parts of the Balkan Peninsula. Fourteen percent of the 130 dragonfly species assessed are at risk; five of these are threatened with global extinction. A further 11 percent are considered Near Threatened within Europe. Like butterflies, most of the threatened species are confined to southern parts of Europe. Increasingly hot and dry summers combined with intensified water extraction for drinking and irrigation is causing the dragonflies’ wetland habitats to dry up.

Background

The European Red List – compiled using the same criteria as the global IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, but limited to Europe – is a review of the conservation status of c. 6,000 European species. It identifies species that are threatened with extinction at the regional level so that conservation action can be taken to improve their status. The European Red List is primarily funded by the European Commission.

The Commission is currently developing its position for a new global target to halt the decline in biodiversity to be discussed at the Convention on Biodiversity COP in Nagoya in October. 2010 is the International Year for Biodiversity.