Methods of timekeeping have changed drastically throughout history and especially in the last century, as has humanity’s relationship to nature. Building upon existing research into the history of clocks and clock-time this study sketches a long-term chronology with a novel environmental, sensory, and aesthetic analysis. The connection between everyday time(keeping) and the environment, as well as the significant role of objects in how we tell the time. The interactions with our surroundings is explored in order to understand the material role of technology, techno-aesthetics, and eco-social cues. The thesis investigates the aesthetic and sensory dimensions of historical timekeeping, particularly with regards to sound and vision. The thesis follows a chronological narrative so that the significant shifts in European timekeeping can be identified at particular moments in history, as well as demonstrating the overall arc of change. It begins with the lead up to the invention of mechanical clocks followed by a case study – conducted using imaginative phenomenology – of an Uppsala student in 1482 interacting with the clock-bell in his local timescape. After sketching the significant inventions and shifts in the proceeding centuries, there is a comparative case study that conducts a phenomenological autoethnography of the author’s timekeeping practices in Uppsala in 2022 and aesthetic analysis of personal clock devices. This seeks to identify what characterises timekeeping in the Anthropocene. Throughout, the thesis compares the experiences of ‘time foraging’ as opposed to ‘self-referential timekeeping’ to explore how different timekeeping affects our relations on an ecological and social scale.

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Experiments were performed to investigate the influence of water availability on the diel patterns of nectar secretion (volume, concentration, sugar production) in male squash flowers as well as to discover what physical component of nectar honey bees use to trigger their time-memory. Squash plants were grown in the greenhouse and in the field under both constant and variable watering regimes. Throughout anthesis, nectar volume and sugar concentration were recorded. In the field, the temporal distribution of arrivals to squash was observed with and without blossoms present. In the greenhouse and in the field, squash flowers exhibit a consistent diel pattern of nectar secretion that does not significantly alter during drought conditions; flowers open just before sunrise (with low volume and sugar and high concentration) and close at midday (with high volume and sugar and low concentration). Honey bees preferentially arrived early in anthesis possibly cueing on either the sugar concentration or the first availability of nectar.

Experiments were performed to determine the influence of the honey bee time-memory on a forager bee's sensitivity to recruitment. Two groups of foragers from one colony were trained to separate food stations at the same restricted time of day for several consecutive days. Feeding then was canceled at one station but continued for four more days at the other. Bees with more days of training at a non-productive source were significantly less likely than foragers with less training to be recruited to an alternative food source presented at the same time of day. Furthermore, the ability of a forager to be recruited recovered after several days, but this recovery period was longer for bees with greater experience. These findings demonstrate a long-term influence of time-memory on subsequent foraging behavior, in contrast to currently accepted models for the allocation and re-allocation of honey bee foragers to food patches in the environment.

The Tushar Mountains of Utah provide essential alpine habitat to a variety of flora and fauna, including 27 endemic plant species and several ungulates (mountain goats, deer, elk, cattle). These ungulates were observed throughout two growing seasons and field analyses were conducted to assess foraging selection. Overall, most ungulates, especially large nursery herds, tended to prefer foraging amongst alpine regions within the Bullion volcanic of the Tushars, which is characterized by denser vegetation than the Belknap volcanic region. Mountain goats and deer were most frequently observed foraging within the Tushar alpine habitat; however, elk and domestic cattle were also observed. Mountain goats preferred foraging at higher elevations than other ungulates and shared the most dietary overlap with deer. Out of the 27 plant species endemic to this region, only Castilleja parvula var. parvula, commonly known as the Tushar paintbrush, was encountered frequently utilized by ungulates. This plant species was also observed being eaten by a variety of rodents and lagomorphs. Long-term monitoring plots were established in four different populations of C. parvula var. parvula across the Bullion volcanic range of the Tushars. These plots were revisited on a yearly basis and used to ascertain demographic data, which will shed light on population trends over time. A variety of different measurements were used to better understand the biology and habitat requirements of this rare plant species. Although the four monitored populations share many similarities, they each have their own site characteristics, local densities, relative plant communities, and potential threats. Further monitoring is necessary to better understand trends and assess the level of the various threats to C. parvula var. parvula populations.

For the endangered green turtle, Chelonia mydas, a fundamental component of recovery and conservation is an understanding of its foraging ecology. Foraging optimality models suggest animals will select resources of high quality over those of low quality. For green turtles, this behavior is important, as sufficient quantities of nutritionally adequate forage items are necessary for growth and reproduction. One intrinsic element in the understanding of green turtle foraging ecology is to identify and document the availability and quality of forage resources preferred by green turtles. The objectives of this study were: 1) determine whether juvenile green turtles showed a feeding preference by comparing prey items in the diet to the availability of those items in the habitat, 2) identify species for which there was selection or avoidance, 3) identify nutritional factors determining selection or avoidance of prey items, and 4) evaluate the nutritional content of the diet. This research was conducted by comparing lavage samples from juvenile green turtles to samples from benthic surveys within the habitat. To determine feeding preference, Ivlev's Electivity Index was used to compare ingested species of algae with those available in the habitat. Nutritional analysis of forage was conducted to identify possible nutrients relating to feeding preference. Juvenile green turtles selectively foraged on Chlorophyta and Rhodophyta. Results indicate that diet selection was based on nutritional content. Both the composite diet and the main diet item, Hypnea spp, had a higher gross energy value, were higher in protein, and lower in fiber than prey items that were avoided. Conservation of green turtles requires effective habitat management, which must be informed by an understanding and evaluation of the habitat. For juvenile green turtles, this study indicates that habitats dominated by Chlorophyta and Rhodophyta may be more important for the health of green turtle populations than habitats dominated by Phaeophyta.

Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus) populations continue to decline due to habitat loss, poaching and conflict with humans. In Sumatra, elephant populations are fragmented into small isolated populations and increasingly cause conflict with humans. Yet, habitat loss due to the rapid land conversion for development is continuing an alarming situation. Developing effective land conservation strategies for elephants is difficult because there is little information available on foraging ecology, habitat use, movements and home range behaviors. I conducted a study on these topics in Seblat, Bengkulu Province, Sumatra during 2007-2008. The five important families of plants in the elephant diet in Sumatra ar: Moraceae, Arecaceae, Fabaceae, Poaceae,and Euphorbiacea. Elephants in Seblat tend to browse more than graze and elephants tend to browse more during the wet season. The nutritional quality (Crude Protein, Calcium, Phosphorus and Gross Energy) of elephant diet in Seblat is suitable to support population reproduction and growth. Home range size of one telemetered 97.4 km2 for the MCP and 95.0 km2 for the 95% fixed kernel. There was no relation between average monthly elephant home range sizes and rainfall, nor any correlation between monthly elephant movement distances and rainfall. Vegetation productivity, as measured by the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), was probably the factor most affecting elephant movements compared to the distances to rivers and ex-logging roads on the SECC. Resource selection analyzes indicate that elephants in Seblat seem to select medium canopy and open canopy areas more than expected. Similarly, habitat ranking using compositional analysis shows that in 2nd order and 3rd order selection, medium canopy and open canopy were the two habitat types with a greater level of used. Habitat use based on diurnal and nocturnal elephant activities indicates that elephants preferred closed canopy habitat compare to the open canopy habitat during the day. The results of this study suggest wide conservation implications for elephants on Sumatra, helping to guide effective land use conservation programs and provide scientific guideline to restore disturbed habitat and select priority areas for Sumatran elephants.

The spatial and population dynamics of avian scavengers are poorly understood. This information is key for management and conservation interventions that guarantee long-term species conservation. My goal in this dissertation is to fill information gaps on the movement ecology of New World vultures using the Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) as a model species. I used a continental-wide satellite telemetry dataset to study the migration ecology, space-use, and demography of the three North American breeding populations of Turkey Vultures wintering in the Neotropics during a 17-year period. I found that primary productivity, but not weather, triggered Turkey Vulture migratory behavior, migration initiated when primary productivity dropped at the end of the breeding and non-breeding season. Migratory connectivity was high at the species level (0.85, 95% CI: 0.74–0.94). However, I found evidence of intrapopulation segregation during the non-breeding season demonstrated by lower values of migratory connectivity in each population. I investigated how seasonality interacted with human disturbance, landscape composition and configuration to mediate patterns of geographic and environmental space-use, and annual and seasonal survival probabilities. Environmental space-use was best explained by landscape configuration. Geographic space-use exhibited a quadratic response to landscape configuration metrics, suggesting that Turkey Vultures maximize space-use in landscape with intermediate disturbance. Human disturbance, but not but not landscape composition and configuration, influenced survival rates in space and time. Overall annual survival averaged 0.87 (95% CI = 0.74 – 0.98). Mortality risk was low in western and central populations but was 3.7 times greater for vultures in the eastern population. Risk of mortality for all vulture populations increased with road density, and this was greater during the non-breeding and return migration seasons. My results suggest that spatial and population dynamics are affected at a continental scale by the energy landscape, intermediate disturbance and human disturbance. My dissertation emphasizes the importance of an integrative empirical-modeling approach to address questions on effects of resources availability and search efficiency in the spatial and population dynamics of avian scavengers.