3.5 Mid-domain effect
Species richness (alpha diversity) was predicted based on the mid-domain effect to examine the applicability of this hypothesis to the sampling site (Figure 1, Table S4). In all the plant groups, the correlations between the observed species richness and those predicted with the mid-domain effect were not significant (total: r = 0.160,p = 0.62; trees: r = −0.031, p = 0.92; shrubs:r = −0.738, p < 0.01; herbs: r = −0.074,p = 0.82; ferns: r = 0.110, p = 0.74; and bryophytes: r = 0.276, p = 0.38). Thus, the elevational patterns of alpha diversity in all the plant groups were different from those predicted with the mid-domain effect.
3.6 Elevational range
The mean elevational range of each plant group was calculated and plotted as a function of elevation (Figure 4, Table S5). The results showed that none of the plant groups had a wider elevational range at higher elevations.