Though landscape corridors increase dispersal of many animals and plants, it remains unknown whether these positive effects extend to the process of colonization and establishment of new populations in fragments. Working in experimentally fragmented landscapes, we tested how two aspects of habitat fragments altered by corridors – connectivity and edge-to-area ratio – determine patterns of colonization by a solitary, cavity-nesting bee Megachile rotundata. We found that though connectivity initially affected rates of nest-site occupation, edge-to-area ratio ultimately determined the final patterns of patch occupation and nest building, likely due to habitat selection by our focal species. Bee colonization was also higher in patches with higher abundances of their preferred food resources, flowers from the Fabaceae family. Our results show the importance of considering the effects of both connectivity and edge on population dynamics in habitat-based conservation.

中文翻译：

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连通性和边缘效应增加了蜜蜂在实验性碎片化景观中的定植

尽管景观走廊增加了许多动植物的扩散，但这些积极影响是否会扩展到殖民化和新种群的建立过程仍然未知。在实验性破碎的景观中工作，我们测试了走廊改变的栖息地碎片的两个方面——连通性和边缘与面积比——如何确定孤独的、空巢筑巢的蜜蜂Megachile rotundata的定殖模式. 我们发现，虽然连通性最初会影响巢址占据率，但边缘与面积比最终决定了斑块占据和筑巢的最终模式，这可能是由于我们的焦点物种选择了栖息地。在具有较高丰度的首选食物资源（豆科植物花）的斑块中，蜜蜂的定植率也较高。我们的结果表明在基于栖息地的保护中考虑连通性和边缘对种群动态的影响的重要性。