Populus pruinosa is listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species and the Red Data Book of Kazakhstan. The habitats of the species are associated with the floodplains of desert rivers, including the Syr Darya and the Ili. The reduction in tugai forests is associated with changes in the hydrological regimes of rivers, the reduction in groundwater, fires, and grazing. The aim of this research is to advance our knowledge of the woodlands and forests of P. pruinosa in Kazakhstan by analyzing the cenoflora and forestry characteristics, conducting ecological niche modeling to select suitable habitats for ecological restoration, and identifying rehabilitation strategies. The vegetation was studied using traditional methods of geobotanic field research in 2021 and 2022. Ecological niche modeling includes the calculation of all the environmental variables that are significant for the species, taken in their optimal ranges, and identifying the intersection of all the favorable conditions. To identify these variables, geographically linked meeting points of the studied species, climatic and soil conditions, relief characteristics identified by the SRTM and raster sets of the environmental variables (WorldClim), and distances to watercourses and settlements were accepted for consideration. A total of 102 environmental variables were used.

The article presents the results of a study on the phytocenotic characteristics and resource assessment of Rheum tataricum L.f. in the Northern Aral region. Rh. tataricum has significant resource potential and is the most widespread species of the genus Rheum L. on the territory of Kazakhstan. Under the arid climate conditions of the Northern Aral region, Rh. tataricum demonstrates high adaptability and resistance to extreme environmental conditions. The purpose of the study is to inventory the commercial thickets and evaluate the raw material base of tatar rhubarb in the territory of the Northern Aral region for further use as a natural resource. Field studies were conducted, along with assessments of the yield of tatar rhubarb, the operational stock of the root, the volume of possible annual stocks of air-dry raw material. A comparative analysis of contemporary and retrospective data was also conducted. Five massifs were identified, ranging from 0.08 to 8751 hectares. It was found that on the area of 535.75 hectares occupied by Rh. tataricum, the total operational stock of the air-dry underground biomass is 455.6 tons, with a possible annual processed volume of 75.94 tons of air-dry roots. Industrial harvesting of the underground part of Rh. tataricum is possible in compliance with the recommended volume of annual harvesting of raw materials in the territory of the Northern Aral region.

This study investigates the phylogenetic relationships, genome size variation, and ploidy levels in the genus Arthrophytum Schrenk (Amaranthaceae s.l.), which is endemic to the desert flora of Central Asia. The genus comprises eight species (Arthrophytum iliense Iljin, A. betpakdalense Korovin & Mironov, A. subulifolium Schrenk, A. lehmannianum Bunge, A. korovinii Botsch., A. longibracteatum Korovin, A. pulvinatum Litv., and Haloxylon balchaschense (Iljin) Osmonali, Veselova & Kudab. (A. balchaschense (Iljin) Botsch.), all of which are found in the flora of Kazakhstan and are distributed throughout the Turanian deserts. To explore inter- and intraspecific relationships, we analyzed 16 populations using flow cytometry to determine genome size and ploidy levels. Genome size was measured by flow cytometry using PI-stained nuclei from silica-dried leaves, with Pisum sativum and Petroselinum crispum as internal standards. Additionally, the nuclear ribosomal ITS region and two chloroplast DNA regions were sequenced, and these data, along with sequences retrieved from NCBI, were used to construct a phylogenetic tree. The results enabled the reconstruction of a robust phylogeny for the genus and revealed taxonomically significant genetic patterns. Based on molecular evidence, we propose the following taxonomic changes: A. betpakdalense is transferred from section Euarthrophytum Iljin to section Globosum Ussen S & Osmonali; A. iliense and A. longibracteatum are merged under the name A. iliense Iljin. This integrative approach provides new insights into the taxonomy and evolutionary history of Arthrophytum and contributes to a better understanding of biodiversity in Central Asian desert ecosystems.

This article presents a spatial assessment of rangeland productivity, forage resources, and the potential carrying capacity of saiga (Saiga tatarica (L., 1766)) habitats within the Korgalzhyn State Nature Reserve (Kazakhstan). This research integrated field geobotanical surveys, remote sensing data, and spatial modelling approaches. During fieldwork conducted in July 2025, 44 geobotanical descriptions were completed. Long-term Sentinel-2 imagery (2015–2025), spectral vegetation indices, and ensemble machine learning algorithms (Random Forest and Gradient Boosted Decision Trees) were used to model rangeland productivity. The study area includes 16 types of rangelands. The forage resource base is primarily formed by dry-steppe communities dominated by Stipa, Festuca, and Artemisia. At the same time, halophytic vegetation containing Atriplex, Bassia, and Halocnemum provides additional forage resources under arid and saline conditions. The total annual forage reserve was estimated at 3,308,921.2 centners, and the potential annual carrying capacity was calculated at 363,033 saiga individuals across 313,868 ha. These values represent the theoretical forage-carrying capacity of the territory and should not be interpreted as actual population estimates. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of integrating remote sensing, field observations, and machine learning methods for assessing forage resources and spatial heterogeneity of rangeland ecosystems in the steppe regions of Kazakhstan.

В статье рассмотрены динамические процессы, происходящие в зональных белоземельнополынных сообществах Северного Приаралья. Выявлены природные и антропогенные факторы динамики. Конассоциация Б.А. Быкова выбрана в качестве ключевого понятия для иллюстрации коренных и переменных состояний растительности в пределах генетически однородной территории. Коренная ассоциация – эфемероидно-белоземельнополынная с итсигеком (Artemisia terrae-albae Krasch., Anabasis aphylla L., Rheum tataricum L.f., Poa bulbosa L., Catabrosella humilis (M.Bieb.) Tzvelev). Природная динамика белоземельнополынников определяется эндоэкогенетическими сукцессиями, обусловленными жизнедеятельностью доминантов и субдоминантов сообществ и экзогенными сукцессиями, связанными с локальной эрозией почвы и появлением микропонижений с ковыльными микроценозами (Stipa sareptana A.K.Becker, S. lessingiana Trin. & Rupr.). Антропогенная динамика вызвана пастбищной и дорожной дигрессией. При выпасе доминантная роль полыни белоземельной переходит к итсигеку (Anabasis aphylla) – индикатору нарушений. Дорожная дигрессия приводит к замене коренных сообществ на однолетнесолянковые, эфемеровые, горцевые (Polygonum aviculare L.) группировки и проценозы на техногенном рельефе. Природно-антропогенный характер имеют смены белоземельполынников на мятликовые (Poa bulbosa) сообщества. Освобождение экологических ниш для внедрения мятлика происходит под воздействием выпаса, формирования сети полевых дорог и гибели полыни в результате естественного старения. Выявленные закономерности природной и антропогенной динамики представляют собой основу для разработки мероприятий по рациональному природопользованию и ресурсному освоению территории. Ключевые слова: сукцессия, конассоциация, зональная растительность, Poa bulbosa, дигрессия, экологическая ниша.

Background: Communities dominated by Artemisia arenaria DC. are widely distributed in the sandy massifs of northern deserts of the Turan lowland, where they perform landscape-forming, relief-stabilising functions. Despite its ecological importance, A. arenaria remains insufficiently studied in Kazakhstan, in particular with regard to its phytochemical properties and raw material reserves in the Northern Aral Sea region. Therefore, this study focuses on the preliminary assessment of the resource potential and essential oil composition of the aboveground parts of A. arenaria in this region. Methods: Classical geobotanical methods were used to describe each site and its resource objects. The yield was determined using two basic methods: clipping and model bushes. Based on the obtained yield data, the operational stock and the volume of possible annual processed air-dried raw material were calculated, taking into account a four-year recovery period. Essential oil was isolated from the air-dried aerial parts of A. arenaria by hydrodistillation. The chemical composition of the essential oil was analysed using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Results and Conclusion: The assessment of A. arenaria resource potential in the Northern Aral Sea region identified five thickets, covering an area of 51.8 ha. In these thickets, total operational stock was 13.06 tons of air-dried raw materials with a possible annual processed volume of 2.61 tons. GC-MS analysis of A. arenaria essential oil from aerial parts identified 105 compounds with mass spectral matches ≥ 85%. The oil was dominated by 18 compounds (approximately 70% of the total), with pseudolimonene (12.6%), α-bisabolol (11.77%), geranyl acetate (7.74%), and 3-carene (6.5%) as the major constituents. Several components detected in this study, including geranyl acetate, have not previously been reported for this species in the available literature. These findings expand current knowledge of the chemical composition of A. arenaria and may contribute to future investigations of its chemotypic variability and potential biological properties.