Prof. Tamar Keasar
Full Professor
We study insect behavior and ecology within the framework of pollination and host-parasitoid interactions.
Research on pollination ecology concerns pollinator learning and decision-making; social organization of pollinators; and agricultural pollination.
Recent and ongoing work on parasitoid ecology deals with the ecology of polyembryonic parasitoid development; the role of learning in parasitoid behavior; and the use of parasitoids for biological control.
Academic Background
B.Sc. Biology, The Hebrew University
M.Sc. Evolution, Systematics, and Ecology, The Hebrew University
Ph.D. Evolution, Systematics, and Ecology, The Hebrew University
Selected Publications
Wajnberg E, Tel-Zur N, Shapira I, Lebber Y, Lev-Yadun S, Zurgil U, Reisman-Berman O, Keasar T, 2019. Pollinator behavior drives sexual specializations in the hermaphrodite flowers of a heterodichogamous tree. Frontiers in Plant Sciences 10:1315, doi: 10.3389/fpls.2019.01315.
Krishna S, Keasar T, 2019. Bumblebees forage on flowers of increasingly complex morphologies despite low success. Animal Behaviour, 155: 119-130.
Keasar T, Wajnberg E, 2019. Evolutionary constraints on polyembryony in parasitic wasps: a simulation model. Oikos 128: 347-359.
Shapira I, Gavish-Regev E, Sharon R, Harari AR, Kishinevsky M, Keasar T, 2018. Habitat use by crop pests and natural enemies in a Mediterranean vineyard agroecosystem. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 267: 109–118.
Keinan Y, Kishinevsky M, Keasar T, 2017. Intraspecific variability in egg maturation patterns and associated life-history trade-offs in a polyembryonic parasitoid wasp. Ecological Entomology 42: 587-594.
Keasar T, Gerchman Y, Lev-Yadun S, 2016. A seven-year study of flower-color polymorphism in a Mediterranean annual plant. Basic and Applied Ecology,17: 741-750.
Teaching
Introduction to Ecology, Undergraduate Research Projects, Pollination Workshop, Evolution 1, Evolution 2