Predicting the net effect of climate change on communities requires understanding how increasing temperatures alter interactions between predators, herbivores, and plants. Over the last several decades, warming experiments have provided important information about how species and their interactions will respond to increasing temperatures. These studies typically examine climate warming by experimentally increasing temperature at a constant level (24 hours) or asynchronously during the daytime, relative to unwarmed control treatments. However, advances in climate models now project that increases in mean global temperatures have been disproportionately driven by increasing nighttime (minimum) temperatures rather than daytime (maximum) temperatures. The timing of warming could have important ecological implications. For example, while night warming could benefit an organism by increasing temperatures towards a more thermally-optimal environment, day warming could raise temperatures beyond a thermal optimum and induce heat-stress. Consequently, mismatching the timing of warming in experiments relative to actual temperature changes could generate misleading predictions about the effects of climate warming. My dissertation has evaluated climate-warming experiments by characterizing past methods, demonstrating present methods, and providing a foundation for future studies. I conducted a meta-analysis on past terrestrial predator-prey climate warming studies that revealed experimental temperatures rarely match model projections, and the magnitude of this mismatch correlated with increased changes in measured effects. Two experiments, one focused on predator functional traits and the other trophic cascades, showed that different types of warming treatments result in different effects of climate change. The context dependency of warming effects necessitates careful consideration of experimental treatments if studies are to accurately predict the effects of climate warming. Region specific climate data are now readily available. Moving forward, ecologists can use these models to inform their warming treatments and perform experiments with the highest level of realism.

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Background: With current environmental issues of light pollution as a point of departure, this thesis draws a link between Western society’s subjugation of darkness within personal and collective psyches, and the harmful impacts caused by the decline of Natural Darkness (ND) at night, via the use of artificial light. Purpose of Research: Global and societal issues related to light pollution, viewed through a Jungian ecopsychological framework, led to the exploration of reintegrating ND within the human psyche through outdoor, overnight therapeutic practices in wilderness settings. Methods Used: Semi-structured interviews were conducted via Zoom with eight participants who described their memories with ND during overnight therapeutic wilderness experiences. Findings: Participants assigned ND with characteristics including spaciousness, magical, enveloping, and being cocoon-like; and described experiences of reduced boundaries, increased fear, feelings of interconnection, as well as greater connection to the spiritual realm and to unprocessed psychological material. Conclusion: Findings suggest that, for this sample, ND provided conditions for rest, spiritual connection and the processing of psychological material. / Graduate

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Light pollution is a problem that affects both living creatures as well as the perception of the night sky. As artificial lighting becomes more affordable and energy efficient, more and more lights are being used, further increasing the light pollution produced by us humans where cities with larger populations experience the largest amount of light pollution. There is however a knowledge gap in the field of light pollution regarding the possibility of a relationship between sky view factor and the brightness of the night sky. This study attempts to reduce that knowledge gap. By using cameras to take photos in different locations, the brightness of the night sky can be compared and together with the sky view factor of each location in can be determined if there exist such a relationship. Based on the results of this study, trends suggesting that this relationship exists emerges, however not to the extent that any definite conclusions can be drawn without further studies.