Not all matrix habitat is created equal for rare bee species in forest habitat

1. Anthropogenic land‐use change alters the ecological communities in a landscape's remaining natural habitat. These matrix effects are understudied in rare species, which comprise a majority of biodiversity, contribute to ecosystem services, and are particularly vulnerable to population declines. 2. This study used bee species survey data from New Jersey forest fragments, in conjunction with an independent museum data set, to identify rare bee species and developed regularised regularised regression models of matrix effects on their richness and abundance. 3. By using a regularised modelling approach, this study explains 44.43% of variation in rare bee species richness between forest fragments and 27.27% of variation in their abundance (average adjusted R 2 ). 4. The present study's results identified specific subcategories of urban land use in the surrounding 1000 m of forest fragments that explained patterns in rare bee species richness and abundance, providing insights into how to select forest fragments to conserve rare bees. Low priority should be given to fragments in close proximity to high‐ and medium‐density housing, which likely harms rare bees by increasing impervious surface cover. Low priority should also be given to fragments near golf courses and athletic fields; this study speculates that these land uses harm rare bees through mowing and pesticide application. Finally, high priority should be given to fragments composed of a larger proportion of mature forest, which likely provides a greater diversity of native floral resources. Altogether, this study's model results reveal the importance of matrix habitats for the biodiversity of rare species in forest fragments.