Landscape connectivity for insect pollinators under conditions of environmental change

有证据表明，昆虫传粉媒介正在减少，气候变化等因素被认为发挥了作用。大黄蜂是广泛的自然和农业生态系统中重要的传粉者。然而，最近的一项发现表明，随着气候变暖，大黄蜂物种并没有在新的可用环境中定居，这表明这些传粉媒介可能会进一步减少。未能在新环境中定居可能意味着适合筑巢的栖息地太少，或者是分散的大黄蜂女王无法到达。我的研究计划调查了诸如缺乏可到达的栖息地之类的条件是如何影响大黄蜂在最近的过去散布的，并测试了一种被称为景观连通性的机制，这种机制可能会影响大黄蜂对未来气候变化的反应。

Evidence suggests that insect pollinators are in decline and climate change, among other factors, is thought to play a role. Bumble bees are important pollinators in a broad range of natural and agricultural ecosystems. However, a recent finding, that bumble bee species have not colonized newly-available environments as the climate has warmed, suggests that these pollinators may be poised for further declines. A failure to colonize new environments could mean that patches of suitable nesting habitat are too few, or are beyond the reach of dispersing bumble bee queens. My research program investigates how conditions such as the absence of reachable habitat have influenced bumble bee dispersal in the recent past, and tests a mechanism—called landscape connectivity—that could affect bumble bee responses to climate change in the future.