Based on field surveys across 15 sampling sites spanning five elevational belts in the Serekitaxi area of Taxkorgan Nature Reserve (eastern Pamir Plateau), we constructed a species-site coverage matrix to systematically explore the diversity and elevational patterns of saxicolous lichens. A total of 24 saxicolous lichen species were documented, belonging to 13 genera within 8 families; Acarospora and Aspicilia represented the most species-rich genera. Based on relative coverage, Rusavskiaelegans (Link) S.Y. Kondr. & K？rnefelt and Candelariella oleifera were identified as the dominant taxa. Species richness per elevational belt ranged from 10 to 18, peaking at 4316 m. One-way ANOVA detected significant elevational differences in α-diversity (p < 0.01), whereas Pielou’s evenness indices did not differ significantly among belts (p > 0.05). Analyses of Bray-Curtis dissimilarity, Jaccard similarity, PERMANOVA, and NMDS ordination further demonstrated pronounced compositional differentiation of saxicolous lichens along the elevation gradient. The 4316 m belt harboured the highest species count and exhibited markedly higher species turnover compared with neighbouring elevational zones. We conclude that saxicolous lichens in Sereketaxi display strong nonlinear elevational variation. Mid-elevation zones constitute biodiversity hotspots, presumably driven by balanced substrate stability, light availability and heterogeneous microhabitats. This work establishes baseline data for saxicolous lichen resource surveys and conservation on the Pamir Plateau, and provides empirical support for future broad- and fine-scale ecological studies of lichens.
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