Altitudinal Patterns of Floristic Elements in the Highest Mountain of Guangdong Province

Altitudinal patterns of floristic elements were investigated in the highest mountain of Guangdong Province.A horizontal transect(10 m×120 m) was placed at 100 m altitudinal intervals from an elevation of 500 m to 1 900 m above sea level in Nanling National Nature Reserve.The results show that 420 species in 247 genera and 116 families of vascular plants were found in the 18 000 m2 plot;that the flora was dominated by the tropical and subtropical families,with few tropic areal-types,and most of the floristic elements were middle tropical-subtropical elements;that a great number of families and genera of pteridophytes were monotypic and the pteridophytes of horizontal transects at lower altitude had more variation than those at higher altitude;and that the variation of seed plants at all 15 transects was at a stage of equilibrium and seed plants at lower altitude had more species and higher variance of species distribution than those at higher altitude.