Abstract: Great bustard (Otis tarda) is a large bird, inhabiting in the steppe and semidesert areas of Eurasia. During the last several decades, the distribution area and number of great bustard have declined drastically, and this species has disappeared in many parts of its former vast natural habitat due to the landuse changes, negative impact of land privatization, overhunting and poaching. Great bustard is ranked as a grade Ⅰ key protected wildlife species in China and defined as Vulnerable (VU) in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Scientists from different countries have conducted numerous researches and published a lot of papers devoted to great bustard’s distribution, population number, diet, habitat selection, reproduction ecology, migration, and behavior. In this paper, we review and summarize all available information for this species in order to find and suggest new, more detailed researches and directions for further investigations.

Key words: knot angle, mixed effect model, Korean pine, knot diameter, sound knot length, year of death of knot