The call of the wild: a challenge to reveal the natural history of birds on the Tibetan plateau

Abstract

<p indent="0mm">Knowledge on the natural history of organisms is the bedrock upon which ecology and evolutionary biology stand, and contributes to natural conservation, public health and human culture. With an average elevation of more than <sc>4000 m</sc> and a territory of <sc>2500000 km²,</sc> the Tibetan plateau is the highest and largest highland on earth. The extreme environments in the plateau have imposed strong selective pressures on the evolution of organisms’ life histories, leading to the biodiversity hotpots with global conservation concern. Of more than 700 bird species inhabiting the plateau, 90% are unknown with respect to natural history. Without such data, many important scientific and conservative questions cannot be fully understood. Chinese ornithologists are encouraged to full up the knowledge gap.