This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Global biodiversity loss is occurring at a rapid pace, driven by multiple human-caused factors, including overexploitation, pollution, invasive species and climate change. Despite increasing research on the impact of climate change on wildlife, few studies have formally attributed observed biodiversity declines to climate change or quantified its contribution relative to other factors.
In a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, Belgian researchers isolated and quantified the contribution of climate change to changes in European areas ecologically suitable for bumblebee species, a group of key pollinators whose populations have declined in recent decades. To do so, the researchers used more than 800,000 georeferenced occurrence records of 47 species to train species-specific ecological niche models. They projected the models under two sets of climatic conditions: the historical climate observed between 1901 and 2019 and a counterfactual climate in which any long-term trend correlated with global warming was removed.
Quantifying the difference between these two types of projections allowed the researchers to evaluate the isolated impact of climate change on the habitat of European bumblebees. Their results show that climate change has already substantially reshaped European areas ecologically suitable for bumblebee species, with a reduction in suitability attributable to climate change averaging 5% and reaching up to 19% locally. Their analyses also highlight an overall impact that has become increasingly pronounced since the 1980s, coinciding with faster rates of warming, and a more pronounced impact on southern and central regions.
In contrast, their results show that in the Alpine and Boreal regions, gains in ecological suitability at higher altitudes partially offset losses at lower latitudes and altitudes, resulting in minimal net changes. The researchers conclude that climate change is already altering the environmental conditions suitable for European bumblebees and that these changes are likely to intensify as warming continues. They stress that climate mitigation, alongside habitat management and conservation measures, will be essential to limit further climate-driven changes in the distribution of insect species, including pollinator species that provide vital ecosystem services.
Bastien De Tandt et al, Declines in European bumblebee habitat suitability attributable to climate change, Nature Climate Change (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41558-026-02734-6 Journal information: Nature Climate Change Provided by Université libre de Bruxelles Swati Mestri holds a bachelor's degree in Electronics Engineering and has worked as a content editor since 2019. She has experience editing research documents across technology, health care, and materials science, and has a particular interest in technology and space.
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