Despite the line above that says that the $step value should be "given as a positive number," the range() function will in fact correctly handle reversed (decrementing) ranges. For example:
<?php print_r( range( 24, 20 ) ); ?>
Array
(
[0] => 24
[1] => 23
[2] => 22
[3] => 21
[4] => 20
)
<?php print_r( range( 20, 11, -3 ) ); ?>
Array
(
[0] => 20
[1] => 17
[2] => 14
[3] => 11
)
It will actually ignore the sign of the $step argument, and determine whether to increment or decrement based purely on whether $start > $end or $end > $start. For example:
<?php print_r( range( 20, 11, 3 ) ); ?>
Array
(
[0] => 20
[1] => 17
[2] => 14
[3] => 11
)
<?php print_r( range( 11, 20, -3 ) ); ?>
Array
(
[0] => 11
[1] => 14
[2] => 17
[3] => 20
)