Connectivity benefits most woodland invertebrate taxa but only in landscapes with low woodland cover

Woodland creation is crucial for nature recovery and achieving net-zero goals. Although habitat creation to improve connectivity is assumed to benefit biodiversity, this has not been extensively quantified across multiple taxa and landscapes. Focusing on the UK, where woodland cover is low (13%), we analysed species occurrence records from citizen science for over 800 broadleaf woodland-associated invertebrate species from 15 taxa in relation to woodland cover and connectivity. Overall, we found that increased connectivity positively impacts the occurrence of these woodland-associated species (effect of connectivity across species, when accounting for the positive effect of woodland cover = 0.122). The benefits of connectivity varied considerably among these taxa: 49% of species showed a significant positive effect, while for 7% it was significantly negative. Our findings emphasise the biodiversity gains from increasing woodland cover and connectivity and highlight the importance of spatial targeting and landscape context in restoration efforts.