Abstract:Species richness pattern is a stereo pattern that distributing within a certain land area, it includes three-dimensional distribution of species richness that occurring in longitude, latitude and vertical (elevation above sea level and depth under sea level) gradients. In recent years, species richness patterns and underlying mechanisms along the elevational gradient have been widely depicted by biogeography scientists and ecologists. Despite species richness patterns along the elevational gradient are very diverse; two universal patterns are widely reported: species richness decreases as the elevation increasing and species richness peaks at mid-elevations. Climate stability, biological factors (interspecies interaction), energy, habitat heterogeneity, disturbances, evolutionary time, speciation rate, area, mid-domain effect, niche conservatism are widely used in explaining the disparity of species richness patterns. One consensus among these related studies is that species richness pattern is driven by multiple factors and also the comprehensive interactions among driving factors. Species richness pattern differs among regions due to the unique and different geography, topography, climate, geological evolutionary history, species pool, species evolutionary history, speciation rate, disturbances and other factors. Therefore, the underlying mechanisms and the main driving factor of species richness patterns differ among regions. Even within a region, species richness pattern differs among different taxonomic species groups because the evolutionary and dispersal history as well as the ecological adaptability differ among species groups. Therefore, we need to carry out specific and careful analysis to gain reliable conclusion when explaining species richness patterns and underlying mechanisms among regions and species groups.