Landscape connectivity for insect pollinators under conditions of environmental change

有证据表明，昆虫传粉者正在减少，气候变化等因素被认为起到了作用。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，大黄蜂物种并未在新的可用环境中定居，这表明这些传粉者可能会进一步减少。未能在新环境中定居可能意味着合适的筑巢栖息地太少，或者超出了分散的大黄蜂女王的能力范围。我的研究项目调查了最近缺乏可到达的栖息地等条件如何影响大黄蜂的扩散，并测试了一种名为景观连通性的机制，该机制可能会影响大黄蜂未来对气候变化的反应。

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.