title: [Altitudinal patterns of species richness and species range size of vascular plants in Xiaolong- shan Reserve of Qinling Mountain: a test of Rapoport' s rule].
abstract: Altitudinal patterns of species richness and species range size and their underlying mechanisms have long been a key topic in biogeography and biodiversity research. Rapoport's rule stated that the species richness gradually declined with the increasing altitude, while the species ranges became larger. Using altitude-distribution database from Xiaolongshan Reverse, this study explored the altitudinal patterns of vascular plant species richness and species range in Qinling Xiaolongshan Reserve, and examined the relationships between species richness and their distributional middle points in altitudinal bands for different fauna, taxonomic units and growth forms and tested the Rapoport's rule by using Stevens' method, Pagel's method, mid-point method and cross-species method. The results showed that the species richness of vascular plants except small-range species showed a unimodal pattern along the altitude in Qinling Xiaolongshan Reserve and the highest proportion of small-range species was found at the lower altitudinal bands and at the higher altitudinal bands. Due to different assemblages and examining methods, the relationships between species distributing range sizes and the altitudes were different. Increasing taxonomic units was easier to support Rapoport's rule, which was related to niche differences that the different taxonomic units occupied. The mean species range size of angiosperms showed a unimodal pattern along the altitude, while those of the gymnosperms and pteridophytes were unclearly regular. The mean species range size of the climbers was wider with the increasing altitude, while that of the shrubs which could adapt to different environmental situations was not sensitive to the change of altitude. Pagel's method was easier to support the Rapoport's rule, and then was Steven's method. On the contrary, due to the mid-domain effect, the results of the test by using the mid-point method showed that the mean species range size varied in a unimodal pattern along the altitude, which didn't support the Rapoport's rule, and because of the scatter-spot impact, the explanatory power of the cross-species method was much lower.
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Da-Jie
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Cheng-Xiang
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Xiao-Jun
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Wan-Jiang
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000531:Altitude; D044822:Biodiversity; D002681:China; D005843:Geography; D010944:Plants / Q000145:classification*