Natural history in the backyard: a comment on Guevara-Fiore

As the source of new hypothesis in ecology and evolution, Natural History observations merit a prominent role in the construction of knowledge. This role is hindered by policies from scientific journals and funding agencies favouring hypotheses-driven science, and by the wrong belief that such observations require high budgets or sophisticated equipment. We advocate for studies in local areas focused on gathering key baseline data that lay the groundwork for future, more resource-demanding research.