Belgian Red List of Bees
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Belgian Red List of Bees Maxime Drossart, Pierre Rasmont, Pieter Vanormelingen, Marc Dufrêne, Morgane Folschweiller, Alain Pauly, Nicolas J. Vereecken, Sarah Vray, Ella Zambra, Jens D'Haeseleer and Denis Michez BELBEES – Multidisciplinary assessment of BELgian wild BEE decline to adapt mitigation management policy – Red List of Bees Belgian Red List of Bees Maxime Drossart1, Pierre Rasmont1, Pieter Vanormelingen2, Marc Dufrêne3, Morgane Folschweiller1, Alain Pauly4, Nicolas J. Vereecken5, Sarah Vray6, Ella Zambra1, Jens D'Haeseleer2 and Denis Michez1 1Laboratoire de Zoologie, Université de Mons, Avenue du Champ de Mars (Pentagone) 6 7000 Mons (Belgium). 2Natuurpunt Studie, Coxiestraat 11, 2800 Mechelen (Belgium). 3UR Biodiversité et Paysage, Université de Liège - Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Passage des Déportés 2, 5030 Gembloux (Belgium). 4Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, O.D. Taxonomy & Phylogeny, Rue Vautier 29, 1000 Brussels (Belgium). 5Agroecology Lab, Campus de la Plaine CP 264/2 - Building NO, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Blvd. du Triomphe, B-1050 Brussels (Belgium). 6Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, Maison de l'innovation, avenue des hauts-fourneaux 5, 4362 Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg) Published by the University of Mons - 2 - BELBEES – Multidisciplinary assessment of BELgian wild BEE decline to adapt mitigation management policy – Red List of Bees Citation: Drossart M., Rasmont P., Vanormelingen P., Dufrêne M., Folschweiller M., Pauly A., Vereecken N. J., Vray S., Zambra E., D'Haeseleer J. & Michez D. 2019. Belgian Red List of bees. Belgian Science Policy 2018 (BRAIN-be - (Belgian Research Action through Interdisciplinary Networks). Mons: Presse universitaire de l’Université de Mons. 140 p. November 2019 Design and layout by: Maxime Drossart Printed by: University of Mons Picture credits on cover page: Melecta luctuosa (Critically Endangered). Jean-Sébastien Rousseau- Piot All photographs used in this publication remain the property of the original copyright holder (see individual captions for details). Photographs should not be reproduced or used in other contexts without written permission from the copyright holder. Available from: http://www.atlashymenoptera.net ISBN: 978-2-87325-113-0 (Print Edition) – Legal deposit: D/2019/970/4 ISBN: 978-2-87325-114-7 (Online Edition) – Legal deposit: D/2019/970/5 Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorized without prior written permission from the copyright holder provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of this publication for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission of the copyright holder. Printed in Belgium - 3 - BELBEES – Multidisciplinary assessment of BELgian wild BEE decline to adapt mitigation management policy – Red List of Bees Table of contents Foreword ..................................................................................................................................................5 Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................................6 Contributions ............................................................................................................................................6 Executive summary ..................................................................................................................................9 1. Background ........................................................................................................................................ 11 1.1 The Belgian context ..................................................................................................................... 11 1.2 Diversity and distribution of Belgian bees................................................................................... 12 1.3 Ecology of Belgian bees ............................................................................................................... 18 1.4 Importance of bees in pollination ............................................................................................... 21 1.5 Population trends of Belgian bees .............................................................................................. 21 1.6 Objectives of the assessment ...................................................................................................... 23 2. Assessment methodology ................................................................................................................. 24 2.1 Geographic scope ........................................................................................................................ 24 2.2 Taxonomic scope ......................................................................................................................... 24 2.3 Data set........................................................................................................................................ 24 2.4 Assessment protocol ................................................................................................................... 25 2.5 Importance of time scales and compared periods ...................................................................... 26 2.6 IUCN criteria: from continental (Europe) to national (Belgian) scale ......................................... 27 3. Results ............................................................................................................................................... 31 3.1 Threat status ................................................................................................................................ 31 3.2 Status by taxonomic group .......................................................................................................... 37 3.3 Status by functional trait ............................................................................................................. 42 3.4 Spatial distribution of species ..................................................................................................... 46 3.5 Major threats to bees in Belgium ................................................................................................ 52 3.6 Knowledge gaps ........................................................................................................................... 58 4. Conservation measures ..................................................................................................................... 60 4.1 Biodiversity change in Belgium and in Europe ............................................................................ 60 4.2 Nature conservation strategy at European and Belgian scale .................................................... 65 4.3 Conservation of bee species in the European Union and Belgium ............................................. 70 5. Recommendations ............................................................................................................................. 76 5.1 Recommended actions ................................................................................................................ 76 5.2 Future work ................................................................................................................................. 86 6. References ......................................................................................................................................... 87 7. Appendix .......................................................................................................................................... 105 - 4 - BELBEES – Multidisciplinary assessment of BELgian wild BEE decline to adapt mitigation management policy – Red List of Bees Foreword Notwithstanding that Belgium is a small country only covering some 30,688 km² of land, its biodiversity is relatively high as a consequence of its diverse geology, topography and climate, and its legacy of diverse agricultural practices resulting in a wide range of natural and seminatural habitats. Over the past decades, however, human-induced activities are increasingly impacting on biodiversity, which may ultimately lead to irreversible changes in ecosystem functioning with profound impacts on our society. One of the critical benefits nature provides us is pollination, as decisively illustrated by the recent assessment report of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) on Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production, and recognized by governments globally through the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). In Northwest Europe and Belgium, it is in particular bees who perform the lion’s share of the essential ecosystem service of pollination, and there is strong evidence that a decline in insect populations, driven by factors such as agriculture intensification including use of pesticides and fertilizers, urban development, and climate change, amongst others is a particular concern for the region. Measures to address this threat to biodiversity require that these are based on reliable knowledge in order to be effective. One of the recognized methodologies delivering a scientifically sound basis to underpin actions is the IUCN Red List approach. However, as it requires sufficient data to enable an assessment of the conservation status of an organism, it is at times difficult to obtain comprehensive results for a specific group. For European bees,