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.

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.

Mountain ecosystems of Kazakhstan host geographically isolated Sibiraea populations, whose taxonomic status is complicated by overlapping morphology, environmental plasticity, and conflicting nomenclatural treatments. We compared 177 adult shrubs sampled at nine elevation-stratified sublocalities nested within three regional analytical groups (two S. altaiensis groups, n = 60 each; one S. tianschanica group, n = 57) using whole-shrub morphology, quantitative leaf anatomy, four soil variables, and a preliminary four-locus DNA-barcode comparison based on eight taxon-level consensus sequences (two taxa × four loci). One-way ANOVA identified regional-group differences in bush width (F(2,174) = 8.89, p < 0.001), vegetative offshoot number (F(2,174) = 21.85, p < 0.001), leaf-blade thickness (F(2,174) = 21.09, p < 0.001), soil pH (F(2,174) = 72.61, p < 0.001), electrical conductivity (F(2,174) = 41.22, p < 0.001), total nitrogen (F(2,174) = 40.21, p < 0.001), and total carbon (F(2,174) = 39.00, p < 0.001). In contrast, plant height and several vascular traits did not differ significantly, and most soil-trait associations were weak (|$\mathsf{\rho }$| ≤ 0.33). Across ITS, matK/KIM, psbA-trnH, and rbcL, the concatenated alignment showed 99.49% identity and an uncorrected p-distance of 0.51%; psbA-trnH (0.97%) and ITS (0.69%) were the most variable loci. The combined evidence demonstrates regional phenotypic and edaphic differentiation but does not establish independent evolutionary lineages because taxon and geography are confounded, and individual-level genetic variation was sparsely sampled. By establishing measurable baselines for demographic monitoring, habitat protection, provenance-based ex situ conservation, and future restoration, the study directly supports the sustainable management and long-term resilience of rare mountain-plant populations in Kazakhstan.

The taxonomic status of the Altai populations traditionally identified as Sibiraea altaiensis remains unresolved, with international databases generally treating the name as a synonym of S. laevigata. At the same time, regional sources retain it for conservation and floristic purposes. Using S. altaiensis as an operational regional name, we established a comparative ecological baseline for six natural populations distributed across the Southern and Western Kazakhstan Altai at 814–2130 m a.s.l. Vegetation was surveyed in July 2024 and July 2025 in ten 10 m × 10 m plots per population using complete vascular plant inventories, Braun–Blanquet abundance–dominance estimates, descriptions of vertical structure, and field assessment of shrub ontogenetic states. Observed vascular plant richness ranged from approximately 35 species at Tautekeli to 78 at Lineinsky; Shubartoc and Ridder contained 76 and 72 species, respectively. Mesophytes constituted 56.3–77.0% of the population floras, demonstrating a predominantly mesic community affinity across contrasting subalpine slopes, river terraces, floodplains, and sparse conifer forest. Sibiraea altaiensis was dominant or structure-forming at every locality, although associated species composition and vegetation architecture varied substantially among habitats. Juvenile plants were not detected at five populations, whereas their occurrence at Lineinsky was insufficiently documented for comparison; this pattern is interpreted cautiously because dense midsummer vegetation and litter may reduce seedling detectability. Floristic richness did not conform to a simple Southern-versus-Western Altai division, indicating that local habitat heterogeneity and vegetation context may be more informative than regional position alone. The study provides a verified descriptive baseline and identifies permanent plot monitoring, early-season recruitment surveys, direct environmental measurements, and integrated molecular taxonomic analyses as priorities for conservation assessment.