Bee movement between habitat patches in a naturally fragmented ecosystem depended on species, patch, and matrix variables. Using a mark-recapture methodology in the naturally fragmented Ozark glade ecosystem, we assessed the importance of bee size, nesting biology, the distance between patches (e.g., isolation), and nesting and floral resources in habitat patches and the surrounding matrix on bee movement.

This dataset includes seven data files, three R code files, and a QGIS tool. Three of the data files include information collected at the study sites with regard to bees and matrix and patch characteristics. The other four data files are spatial files used to quantify the characteristics of the forest canopy between the study sites and the edge-to-edge distances between the study sites. R code in the R Markdown file recreates the analysis and data presentation for the associated publication. R script files contain processes for calculating some of the explanatory variables used in the analysis. The QGIS tool can be used as the first step to obtaining average values from a raster file where the cells are large relative to the areas of interest (AOI) that you would like to characterize. The second step is contained in one of the aforementioned R scripts.

Detected effects included: Larger bees were more likely to move between patches. Bee movement was less likely as the distance between patches increased. However, relatively short distances (~50 m) inhibited movement more than our a priori expectations. Bees were unlikely to move away from home patches with abundant and diverse floral and below-ground nesting resources. When home patches were less resource-rich, bee movement depended on the characteristics of the away patch or the matrix. In these cases, bees were more likely to move to away patches with greater below-ground nesting and floral resources. Matrix habitats with more available floral and below-ground nesting resources appear to impede movement to neighboring patches, potentially because they already provide supplemental resources for bees.