Abstract: This paper examined the seed germination characteristics of 11 Berberis species from the eastern part of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, with their relations to seed size and altitude analyzed. Among the 11 species, only 5 species (B. wisoniae, B. aggregate, B. diaphana, B. polyantha, and B. vernae) had a seed germination percentage higher than 50% and  B. wisoniae  had the highest one (86.7%), 2 species (B. veitchii and B. silva) had no a seed germination all the time, while the others had a seed germination percentage lower than 10%. The 11 species began to germinate after 10 days, and  B. vernae germinated over the longest period (40 days). The seed germination percentage, germination rate, and germination duration were significantly negatively correlated with seed size and weakly positively correlated with altitude, while the initial germination time was significantly positively related to seed size and weakly negatively related to altitude.

Key words: Monocrotophos, Sciaenops ocellatus, Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase, Microstructure, Ultrastructure