Keith Waddington

Professor 169 Cox Science Center, Dept. of Biology
1301 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33124

(305)284-6301
Fax (305)284-3039

email
Laboratory Website
Art Website

Education and Professional Experience

  • BS University of Akron, Akron, Ohio; Biology; 1969.
  • MS The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio; Entomology, Animal Behavior; 1971 (Honors). Walter C. Rothenbuhler - Thesis Advisor.
  • PhD University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas; Entomology, Animal Behavior, Ecology; 1977 (Honors). Charles D. Michener - Dissertation Advisor.
  • Post-doctoral, University of California, Berkeley. 1978-9. Bernd Heinrich – Sponsor
  • Research biologist at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL), Colorado, (Summers 1977, 1978)
  • Researcher, University of California, Berkeley, 1978-1979.
  • Assistant Professor, University of Miami, 1977-1981
  • Associate Professor, University of Miami, 1981-1988
  • Professor, University of Miami, 1988-present
  • Visiting Faculty, Itasca Field Station, University of Minnesota, Field course in Animal Behavior, Summer 1982
  • Visiting Scholar, Institute for Advanced Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1990
  • Visiting Scholar, University of Notre Dame, Summer 1993
  • Visiting Scientist, University of California, Davis, 1993-1994

Areas of Focus

Behavior and Behavioral Ecology
Conservation and Restoration Biology

Research Interests

I have two main lines of work underway: One line of research centers on foraging behavior, decision-making and communication in bees. This focus has led me to develop and test theories of foraging behavior and to investigate the evolution of communication systems. I have developed novel techniques for quantifying nectarivore foraging behavior. In one effort, I am investigating how the costs and intakes of foraging are perceived by honey bees and how they use this information to choose among flowers. I use artificial flowers in the laboratory so that bees' energy and time budgets can be manipulated. The bees' perception of costs and intakes is quantified by using an aspect of their communication dance that changes with foraging profits. I use this information to understand and predict flower choice. One goal of this work is to better understand the ecological and evolutionary relationships between plants and their pollinators.
I am also studying plant-pollinator interactions in Everglades National Park. We are sampling flower-visiting insects on several permanent sites in each of three Everglades habitats. We are also sampling honey bees using swarm containers and stem-nesting bees using wooden stem nests.

Publications

  • Waddington, K.D. and L. Holden. 1979. Optimal foraging: on flower selection by bees. American Naturalist. 114(2): 179-196.
  • Waddington, K.D. and B. Heinrich. 1979., The foraging movements of bumblebees on vertical "inflorescences": an experimental analysis. Journal of Comparative Physiology. 134: 113-117.
  • Waddington, K.D., T. Allen, and B. Heinrich. 1981. Floral preferences of bumblebees (Bombus edwardsii) in relation to variable vs. constant rewards. Animal Behaviour. 29: 779-784.
  • Waddington, K. D. 1982. Honeybee foraging profitability and round dance correlates. Journal of Comparative Physiology. 148: 279-301.
  • Waddington, K.D. 1990 Foraging profits and thoracic temperature of honey bees (Apis mellifera). Journal of Comparative Physiology. 160:325-329.
  • Raveret-Richter, M and K.D. Waddington. 1993. Past foraging experience influences honey bee dance behaviour. Animal Behaviour. 46:123-128.
  • Page R., Waddington, K., Hunt, G. and Fondrk, M.K. 1995. Genetic determinants of honey bee foraging behaviour. Animal behaviour. 50: 1617-1625.
  • Perez, S. and Waddington, K.D. 1996. Carpenter bee (Xylocopa micans) risk indifference and a review of nectarivore risk-sensitivity studies. American Zoologist. 36:435-446.
  • Waddington, K.D., C.M. Nelson, and R.E. Page. 1998. Effects of pollen quality on the dance of foraging honey bees. Animal Behaviour 56:35-39.
  • Pascarella, J.B., K.D. Waddington, and P.R. Neal. 2000. The bee fauna (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of Everglades National Park, Florida and Adjacent areas: Distribution, phenology, and biogeography. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. 72(1):32-45.
  • Waddington, K.D 2001. Subjective evaluation and choice-behavior by nectar and pollen collecting bees. In: Cognitive Ecology of Pollination: Animal Behavior and Floral Evolution. Cambridge University Press.
  • Pankiw, T., K.D. Waddington, and R.E. Page. 2001. Modulation of sucrose response thresholds in honey bees (Apis mellifera L.): Influence of genotype, feeding and foraging experience. Journal of Comparative Physiology, A. 187:293-301.
  • Pascarella, J.B., K.D. Waddington, and P.R. Neal. 2001. Non-apoid flower-visiting fauna of Everglades National Park, Florida. Biodiversity and Conservation. 10: 551-566.
  • Artz, D. and K.D. Waddington. 2006. The effects of neighboring tree islands on pollinator density and diversity, and on pollination of a wet prairie species, Asclepias lanceolata (Apocynaceae). Journal of Ecology. 94:597-608.
Dept. of Biology, Cox Science Ctr.
1301 Memorial Dr., University of Miami
Coral Gables, Florida 33124-0421 		College of Arts and Sciences homepage
University of Miami homepage 		telephone. 305-284-3973
fax. 305-284-3039
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