Many studies in the UK (where population loss is most severe) and several studies from other areas of Europe state that the small pearl-bordered fritillary is rapidly declining in numbers. This is likely from indirect harm due to habitat destruction and fragmentation. Since this species is primarily attached to violet that grows in wild grasslands, it is very hard for populations of Boloria selene to adjust to modern agricultural practices, which have caused most of Europe’s grasslands to become fragmented or destroyed for farmland.