How climate change impacts on wild pollinators: the case of butterflies in Central Italy

Among wild pollinators, diurnal butterflies are important in natural ecosystems and contribute significantly to agricultural productivity. Worryingly, a growing body of literature suggests that Climate Change (CC) may result in the extinction and decline of many butterfly species. Understanding which species and areas are most vulnerable to CC is essential for planning conservation and mitigation efforts. In this work we present the main results obtained during LIFE project BEEadapt (LIFE21-CCA-IT-LIFE BEEadapt/101074591) which aims to improve wild pollinator climate resilience in four areas in Central Italy, including protected areas, natural and agro-ecosystems.

Results show first that CC signals are evident in all the studied areas in terms of increased temperatures, and increased extreme events, both in intensity and frequency. Furthermore, they show that butterflies have a consistent vulnerability pattern at both the species and multispecies level. In the study areas, CC appears to favor lowland and generalist species, which increase their climatic suitability under both scenarios, particularly in mountains. Mountain and specialist species are expected to have reduced climatic suitability, especially under the SSP5-8.5.

Findings are comparable with recent studies on the effects of CC on pollinators, which revealed similar sensitivity patterns based on species ecology, and provided new insights into species potential local responses to CC, allowing to set conservation priorities and direct LIFE BEEadapt mitigation actions which need to be combined with the definition of governance strategies and the involvement of key actors at different spatial levels.