Background: Genetic differences between isolated endemic populations of plant species and those with widely known twin species are relevant for conserving the biological diversity of our planet’s flora. Prunus ledebouriana (Schlecht.) YY Yao is an endangered and endemic species of shrub almond from central Asia. Few studies have explored this species, which is closely related and morphologically similar to the well-known Prunus tenella Batsch. In this article, we present a comparative analysis of studies of three P. ledebouriana populations and one close population of P. tenella in Eastern Kazakhstan in order to determine the particular geographic mutual replacement of the two species. Methods: The populations were collected from different ecological niches, including one steppe population near Ust-Kamenogorsk (P. tenella) and three populations (P. ledebouriana) in the mountainous area. Estimation of plant height using a t-test suggested a statistically significant difference between the populations and the two species (P < 0.0001). DNA simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were applied to study the two species’ genetic diversity and population structure. Results: A total of 19 polymorphic SSR loci were analyzed, and the results showed that the population collected in mountainous areas had a lower variation level than steppe populations. The highest level of Nei’s genetic diversity index was demonstrated in the 4-UK population (0.622) of P. tenella. The lowest was recorded in population 3-KA (0.461) of P. ledebouriana, collected at the highest altitude of the four populations (2,086 meters above sea level). The total genetic variation of P. ledebouriana was distributed 73% within populations and 27% between populations. STRUCTURE results showed that two morphologically similar species diverged starting at step K = 3, with limited population mixing. The results confirmed the morphological and genetic differences between P. tenella and P. ledebouriana and described the level of genetic variation for P. ledebouriana. The study’s results proved that the steppe zone and mountain altitude factor between P. tenella and isolated mountain samples of P. ledebouriana.

The study of medicinal plants and having a protected status is an urgent issue for the conservation of biodiversity in Kazakhstan. Rhaponticum carthamoides (Willd.) Ilijn is a medicinal plant, and its excessive harvesting and destruction of habitats, as well as its conservation status, are of concern. We conducted a study to assess the ecological characteristics of the habitat of the species in the Tarbagatai National Natural Park, calculate the amount of medicinal raw materials, calculate both aboveground and underground phytomass, and calculate biological and operational reserves. A map has been developed to show the distribution of the species and potential harvest sites. In addition, a correlation analysis was performed to understand how population size affects productivity. The results highlight the need for continuous monitoring and protection of endangered species. The conservation of Rhaponticum carthamoides in the Tarbagatai State National Nature Park is currently ensured by its protected status. However, the study emphasizes the importance of developing a sustainable use regime to effectively manage plant resources and ensure their preservation for future generations.

A taxonomic analysis of the flora list of Akmola region is presented. The results are based on field research, literature analysis and revision of herbarium materials. According to the data obtained, it was established that the flora of the Akmola region includes 1121 species of higher vascular plants from 449 genera and 96 families. On the territory of the Akmola region grow 18 species of rare plants included in the Red Book of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and 7 endemics of Kazakhstan are registered. In the Akmola region, 86 species of alien plants from 29 families and 73 genera were identified.

Environmental heterogeneity can promote niche differentiation among closely related species, yet ecological segregation may not be mirrored by traits measured during a single field campaign. We tested whether edaphic differentiation exceeded morphological and ecophysiological divergence in Rosa acicularis, R. alberti, and R. spinosissima across the Altai and Tarbagatai Mountains of eastern Kazakhstan. The dataset comprised 40 field records representing 25 geographic coordinates and 30 species–site combinations. Plant height, crown width, chlorophyll fluorescence, chlorophyll-related outputs, and soil pH, electrical conductivity, total nitrogen, and total carbon were analysed using FDR-controlled univariate tests with Dunn post hoc comparisons, PERMANOVA, reduced-variable PCA, partial redundancy analysis, correlation analysis, and small-sample explanatory models with leave-one-out validation. Within Tarbagatai, species identity explained 48.6% of multivariate soil variation but only 9.2% of plant-trait variation. Omnibus differences in pH, nitrogen, and carbon remained significant after correction, and the species–site analysis also supported EC differentiation. The soil block explained no significant independent component of plant-trait variation after species and mountain system were taken into account. Rosa spinosissima was taller in the Altai at the observation level, and a species-plus-region model showed moderate cross-validated performance for height; models for other traits had little predictive value. These results support edaphic niche differentiation accompanied by limited divergence in field-measured traits. Because the study was observational and temporally restricted, the findings demonstrate environmental association rather than adaptation. Still, they identify testable hypotheses and support environmentally stratified conservation of wild Rosa genetic resources.

Wild almond relatives are valuable reservoirs of allelic variation for crop improvement and conservation, yet Kazakhstan’s wild-almond genetic resources remain poorly characterised. We conducted an exploratory SSR assessment of 80 putative individuals from four taxon-locality groups (20 per group), each representing one sampled population: Prunus ledebouriana, P. tenella, P. petunnikowii, and P. spinosissima. Of 22 nuclear simple sequence repeat loci screened for cross-taxon transferability, 15 generated reproducible profiles and were retained; their even genome-wide distribution was not verified. Across the full dataset, the mean number of alleles was 3.55, the effective number of alleles was 2.62, expected heterozygosity (He) was 0.544, and 95.0% of loci were polymorphic. Missing genotypes ranged from 0.0% to 34.7% among groups, and six loci had at least 20% missing data. AMOVA attributed 76.5% of variation to within-group differences and 23.5% to among-group differences (PhiPT = 0.235, p = 0.001). PCoA, unbiased Nei distances, UPGMA, and descriptive Bayesian clustering separated the four sampled groups. A nine-locus sensitivity analysis that excluded the six high-missing loci retained P. spinosissima as the group with the highest mean He (0.699), whereas P. petunnikowii increased from 0.471 to 0.609. Thus, the low full-panel estimate for P. petunnikowii was not robust to missing data. Because taxon identity was fully confounded with locality and the marker panel was limited, the results are interpreted as a regional marker-transferability and methodological baseline rather than as species-wide or genome-wide inference.