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Research about Kazakhstan

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Kazakhstan.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2026

Characterizing the long-term (1981–2023) temperature and precipitation dynamics in the Trans-Mountain regions of Kazakhstan, Central Asia

Mountain regions are highly climate-sensitive, yet long-term observational evidence of elevation and seasonal climate dynamics in Central Asia remains limited. This study examines spatiotemporal trends in temperature (Tmean, Tmax, Tmin, and diurnal temperature range [DTR]) and precipitation across Kazakhstan’s transmountain regions using 74 meteorological stations (1981–2023). Data were analyzed using the Mann–Kendall test and Sen’s slope estimator, stratified across six elevation zones from lowlands (<400 m) to high mountains (>1500 m). Results reveal a robust, spatially coherent warming signal across all zones. Annual Tmean increased at a median rate of ~0.30 °C decade −1 , peaking at 0.36 °C decade −1 above 1500 m, corresponding to an absolute increase exceeding 1.5 °C. Warming exhibited strong seasonal and diurnal asymmetries. Spring warmed most rapidly, with Tmean increasing >0.60 °C decade −1 (approaching 3 °C total). Winter warming was driven by Tmin increases (up to 0.44 °C decade −1 ), causing widespread DTR contraction, whereas summer warming was driven by Tmax increases, expanding DTR at higher elevations. Tmin showed the strongest elevation amplification overall. In stark contrast, precipitation trends were weak, spatially heterogeneous, and largely non-significant. Annual changes ranged from −6.63 to +14.35 mm decade −1 , with seasonal tendencies indicating modest, non-significant winter/spring wetting and summer drying. Ultimately, the results demonstrate a profound decoupling between strong, elevation-dependent warming and weak precipitation changes. The acute amplification of temperature, particularly during spring and summer at high elevations, has severe implications for snowmelt timing, glacier mass balance, evapotranspiration demand, and long-term water security in Kazakhstan.

Water↗
USGS2024

Dynamics of the nesting group of the steppe eagle in Aktobe region in 2018-2023

Kazakhstan is a key area for the conservation of the steppe eagle, which is classified as an endangered species by the IUCN. Systematic work on monitoring changes in its number and reproductive success is carried out in protected areas. The remaining steppe spaces are explored sporadically. Our work partially fills this gap. Over 5 years of monitoring the nesting group in the north of the Aktobe region, 85 successful nests of the steppe eagle were identified. 160 fledglings were counted. Data have been collected on the spatial distribution and population dynamics of this bird.

Aktobe region↗
USGS2017

Demographic consequences of nest box use for Red-footed Falcons Falco vespertinus in Central Asia

Nest box programs are frequently implemented for the conservation of cavity-nesting birds, but their effectiveness is rarely evaluated in comparison to birds not using nest boxes. In the European Palearctic, Red-footed Falcon Falco vespertinus populations are both of high conservation concern and are strongly associated with nest box programs in heavily managed landscapes. We used a 21-year monitoring dataset collected on 753 nesting attempts by Red-footed Falcons in unmanaged natural or semi-natural habitats to provide basic information on this poorly known species; to evaluate long-term demographic trends; and to evaluate response of demographic parameters of Red-footed Falcons to environmental factors including use of nest boxes. We observed significant differences among years in laying date, offspring loss, and numbers of fledglings produced, but not in egg production. Of these four parameters, offspring loss and, to a lesser extent, number of fledglings exhibited directional trends over time. Variation in laying date and in numbers of eggs were not well explained by any one model, but instead by combinations of models, each with informative terms for nest type. Nevertheless, laying in nest boxes occurred 2.10 ± 0.70 days earlier than in natural nests. In contrast, variation in both offspring loss and numbers of fledglings produced were fairly well explained by a single model including terms for nest type, nest location, and an interaction between the two parameters (65% and 81% model weights respectively), with highest offspring loss in nest boxes on forest edges. Because, for other species, earlier laying dates are associated with more fit individuals, this interaction highlighted a possible ecological trap, whereby birds using nest boxes on forest edges lay eggs earlier but suffer greater offspring loss and produce lower numbers of fledglings than do those in other nesting settings. If nest boxes increase offspring loss for Red-footed Falcons in heavily managed landscapes where populations are at greater risk, or for the many other species of rare or endangered birds supported by nest box programs, these processes could have important demographic and conservation consequences.

Ibis↗
USGS2016

Persistent and novel threats to the biodiversity of Kazakhstan’s steppes and semi-deserts

Temperate grasslands have suffered disproportionally from conversion to cropland, degradation and fragmentation. A large proportion of the world&rsquo;s remaining near-natural grassland is situated in Kazakhstan. We aimed to assess current and emerging threats to steppe and semi-desert biodiversity in Kazakhstan and evaluate conservation research priorities. We conducted a horizon-scanning exercise among conservationists from academia and practice. We first compiled a list of 45 potential threats. These were then ranked by the survey participants according to their perceived severity, the need for research on them, and their novelty. The highest-ranked threats were related to changes in land use (leading to habitat loss and deterioration), direct persecution of wildlife, and rapid infrastructure development due to economic and population growth. Research needs were identified largely in the same areas, and the mean scores of threat severity and research need were highly correlated. Novel threats comprised habitat loss by photovoltaic and wind power stations, climate change and changes in agriculture such as the introduction of biofuels. However, novelty was not correlated with threat severity or research priority, suggesting that the most severe threats are the established ones. Important goals towards more effective steppe and semi-desert conservation in Kazakhstan include more cross-sector collaboration (e.g. by involving stakeholders in conservation and agriculture), greater allocation of funds to under-staffed areas (e.g. protected area management), better representativeness and complementarity in the protected area system and enhanced data collection for wildlife monitoring and threat assessments (including the use of citizen-science databases).

Biodiversity and Conservation↗
USGS2016

Use of noninvasive genetics to assess nest and space use by white-tailed eagles

Movement and space use are important components of animal interactions with the environment. However, for hard-to-monitor raptor species, there are substantial gaps in our understanding of these key determinants. We used noninvasive genetic tools to evaluate the details of space use over a 3-yr period by White-tailed Eagles ( Haliaeetus albicilla ) at the Naurzum Zapovednik in northern Kazakhstan. We genotyped, at 10 microsatellite markers and one mitochondrial marker, 859 eagle feathers and assigned naturally shed feathers to individuals. We identified 124 White-tailed Eagles, including both members of 5–10 pairs per year, and were able to monitor birds across years. Distances between eagle nests and hunting perches were always greater than nearest neighbor distances, eagles never used the closest available hunting perch, and hunting perches were always shared with other eagles. When eagles switched nests between years, the nests they chose were almost always well outside the space that theory predicted they defended the prior year. Our data are inconsistent with classical territorial and colonial models of resource use; they more closely resemble semi-colonial behavior. It is unlikely that standard methods of animal tracking (e.g., marking and telemetry), would have provided a similarly cost-effective mechanism to gain these insights into spatial and temporal aspects of eagle behavior. When combined with existing information on space use of other local species, these data suggest that partitioning of spatial resources among White-tailed Eagles and other eagles at the Zapovednik may be facilitated by the alternative strategies of space use they employ.

Naurzum Zapovednik↗
USGS2014

Sandstone copper assessment of the Teniz Basin, Kazakhstan

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducts national and global resource assessments (mineral, energy, water, and biological) to provide data and scientific analyses to support decision making. Three-part mineral resource assessments result in informed, unbiased, quantitative, and probabilistic estimates of undiscovered mineral resources and deposits. In particular, mineral assessment results inform decisions concerning land-use and mineral-resource development. A probabilistic mineral resource assessment of the sandstone subtype of sediment-hosted stratabound copper deposits in the Teniz Basin, Kazakhstan, was undertaken by the USGS. The Teniz Basin is located in Akmola Oblast, central and western Kazakhstan. With an areal extent of almost 78,000 km 2 , the basin contains many sediment-hosted stratabound copper prospects, none of which are well described, and the majority of which may belong to the sandstone subtype of sediment-hosted copper deposits. There are no known locations within the Teniz Basin currently mined for copper. Within the basin, however, map units permissive for the sandstone subtype of sediment-hosted stratabound copper deposits include (from oldest to youngest): the Middle Carboniferous Kiery Suite; the Middle to Upper Carboniferous Vladimirov Suite (a stratigraphic equivalent of the Dzhezkazgan Suite, Chu-Sarysu Basin); and the Upper Carboniferous or lowest Permian Kayraktin Suite. The multicolored sedimentary rocks of the Vladimirov Suite, in which 14 potentially ore-bearing horizons of gray beds have been recorded, have the greatest potential for undiscovered, sandstone subtype, sediment-hosted stratabound copper deposits. A quantitative mineral resource assessment has been completed that (1) delineates one 49,714 km 2 tract permissive for undiscovered, sandstone subtype, sediment-hosted stratabound copper deposits, and (2) provides probabilistic estimates of numbers of undiscovered deposits and probable amounts of copper resource contained in those deposits. The permissive tract delineated in this assessment encompasses no previously known sandstone subtype, sediment-hosted stratabound copper deposits. However, this assessment estimates (with 30 percent probability) that a mean of nine undiscovered sandstone subtype copper deposits may be present in the Teniz Basin and could contain a mean total of 8.9 million metric tons of copper and 7,500 metric tons of silver.

Teniz Basin↗
USGS2013

ICBMs and the environment: Assessments at a base in Kazakhstan

A paper by two U.S. scientists explores the environmental/health hazard posed by abandoned missile launch sites and control facilities (dismantled by 1998 as part of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program) at an ICBM base in north-central Kazakhstan. It summarizes the findings of Environmental Site Assessment Reports based on a program of water and soil sampling at the sites, with a particular focus on testing for the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls, various toxic metals, and radiation. The study is important in that it documents levels of contamination (and describes abatement measures) at a former Soviet missile base.

Post-Soviet Geography and Economics↗
USGS2012

Sandstone copper assessment of the Chu-Sarysu Basin, Central Kazakhstan: Chapter E in Global mineral resource assessment

Mineral resource assessments represent a synthesis of available information to estimate the location, quality, and quantity of undiscovered mineral resources in the upper part of the Earth&rsquo;s crust. This report presents a probabilistic mineral resource assessment of undiscovered sandstone copper deposits within the late Paleozoic Chu-Sarysu Basin in central Kazakhstan by the U.S. Geological Survey as a contribution to a global assessment of mineral resources. The purposes of this study are to: (1) provide a database of known sandstone copper deposits and significant prospects in this area, (2) delineate permissive areas (tracts) for undiscovered sandstone copper deposits within 2 km of the surface at a scale of 1:1,000,000, (3) estimate numbers of undiscovered deposits within these permissive tracts at several levels of confidence, and (4) provide probabilistic estimates of amounts of copper (Cu), silver (Ag), and mineralized rock that could be contained in undiscovered deposits within each tract. The assessment uses the three-part form of mineral resource assessment based on mineral deposit models (Singer, 1993; Singer and Menzie, 2010). Delineation of permissive tracts for resources is based on the distribution of a Carboniferous oxidized nonmarine clastic (red bed) stratigraphic sequence that lies between overlying Permian and underlying Devonian evaporite-bearing sequences. Subsurface information on the extent and depth of this red bed sequence and structural features that divide the basin into sub-basins was used to define four permissive tracts. Structure contour maps, mineral occurrence databases, drill hole lithologic logs, geophysical maps, soil geochemical maps, locations of producing gas fields, and evidence for former gas accumulations were considered in conjunction with descriptive deposit models and grade and tonnage models to guide the assessment team&rsquo;s estimates of undiscovered deposits in each tract. The four permissive tracts are structural sub-basins of the Chu-Sarysu Basin and range in size from 750 to 65,000 km&sup2;. Probabilistic estimates of numbers of undiscovered sandstone copper deposits were made for the four tracts by a group of experts. Using these probabilistic estimates, Monte Carlo simulation was used to estimate the amount of metal contained within each tract. The results of the simulation serve as the basis for estimates of the metal endowment. The team estimates that 26 undiscovered deposits occur within the Chu-Sarysu Basin, and that these deposits contain an arithmetic mean of at least 21.5 million metric tons (Mt) of copper and 21,900 metric tons (t) of silver. The undiscovered deposits are in addition to the 7 known deposits that contain identified resources of 27.6 Mt of copper. Sixty percent of the estimated mean undiscovered copper resources are associated with the two permissive tracts that contain the identified resources; the remaining estimated resources are associated with the two tracts that have no known deposits. For the three tracts that contain 95 percent of the estimated undiscovered copper resources, the probability that each tract contains its estimated mean or more is about 40 percent. For the tract with 5 percent of the estimated undiscovered cop-per resources, the probability that it contains that amount or more is 25 percent.

Chu-Sarysu Basin↗
USGS2012

Dzhezkazgan and associated sandstone copper deposits of the Chu-Sarysu basin, Central Kazakhstan

Sandstone-hosted copper (sandstone Cu) deposits occur within a 200-km reach of the northern Chu-Sarysu basin of central Kazakhstan (Dzhezkazgan and Zhaman-Aibat deposits, and the Zhilandy group of deposits). The deposits consist of Cu sulfide minerals as intergranular cement and grain replacement in 10 ore-bearing members of sandstone and conglomerate within a 600- to 1,000-m thick Pennsylvanian fluvial red-bed sequence. Copper metal content of the deposits ranges from 22 million metric tons (Mt, Dzehzkazgan) to 0.13Mt (Karashoshak in the Zhilandy group), with average grades of 0.85 to 1.7% Cu and significant values for silver (Ag) and rhenium (Re). Broader zones of iron reduction (bleaching) of sandstones and conglomerates of the red-bed sequence extend over 10 km beyond each of the deposits along E-NE-trending anticlines, which began to form in the Pennsylvanian. The bleached zones and organic residues within them are remnants of ormer petroleum fluid accumulations trapped by these anticlines. Deposit sites along these F 1 anticlines are localized at and adjacent to the intersections of nearly orthogonal N-NW-trending F 2 synclines. These structural lows served to guide the flow of dense ore brines across the petroleum-bearing anticlines, resulting in ore sulfide precipitation where the two fluids mixed. The ore brine was sourced either from the overlying Early Permian lacustrine evaporitic basin, whose depocenter occurs between the major deposits, or from underlying Upper Devonian marine evaporites. Sulfur isotopes indicate biologic reduction of sulfate but do not resolve whether the sulfate was contributed from the brine or from the petroleum fluids. New Re-Os age dates of Cu sulfides from the Dzhezkazgan deposit indicate that mineralization took place between 299 to 309 Ma near the Pennsylvanian-Permian age boundary. At the Dzhezkazgan and some Zhilandy deposits, F 2 fold deformation con tinued after ore deposition. Copper orebodies in Lower Permian shale near the Zhaman-Aibat deposit indicate that at least some of the mineralization there is younger than at Dzhezkazgan, consistent with the Re-Os age and with differences in their ore Pb isotopes.

Book chapter↗
USGS2011

Aggregation of estimated numbers of undiscovered deposits: an R-script with an example from the Chu Sarysu Basin, Kazakhtan: Chapter B in Global mineral resource assessment

Mineral resource assessments completed by the U.S. Geological Survey during the past three decades express geologically based estimates of numbers of undiscovered mineral deposits as probability distributions. Numbers of undiscovered deposits of a given type are estimated in geologically defined regions. Using Monte Carlo simulations, these undiscovered deposit estimates are combined with tonnage and grade models to derive a probability distribution describing amounts of commodities and rock that could be present in undiscovered deposits within a study area. In some situations, it is desirable to aggregate the assessment results from several study areas. This report provides a script developed in open-source statistical software, R, that aggregates undiscovered deposit estimates of a given type, assuming independence, total dependence, or some degree of correlation among aggregated areas, given a user-specified correlation matrix.

Chu Sarysu Basin↗
USGS2005

Relationship between demographics and diet specificity of Imperial Eagles Aquila heliaca in Kazakhstan

The demographic consequences of within-population variability in predator foraging are not well understood. We assessed the relationship between the degree of diet specialization and two demographic parameters, population density and reproductive output, within a single population of Imperial Eagles Aquila heliaca at a nature reserve in north-central Kazakhstan. Nearest-neighbour distances between eagle nests throughout the reserve, and thus population density, were correlated with the degree to which diets were specialized. Diet diversity showed an extensive regional variability that was linked to prey distributions, but within-year analyses of reproductive output did not show similar linkages. However, multi-year analyses of breeding performance showed inter-regional differences in nesting success that were paralleled, and probably driven by, similar trends in diet diversity. In contrast, brood size at fledging was not linked to diet diversity and was more probably driven by reserve-wide influences such as weather. Finally, the decision to initiate breeding was associated neither with diet diversity nor with environmental variability. Our results indicate that the degree of dietary specialization is linked to the demographics of Imperial Eagle populations. For these and other raptor populations, it is possible that management could be used separately to increase or decrease nesting success, brood size at fledging, and the likelihood that a pair will initiate breeding.

Ibis↗
USGS2003

Coexistence in a multispecies assemblage of eagles in central Asia

We evaluated factors that permit species coexistence in an exceptional assemblage of similar raptor species at the Naurzum Zapovednik (a national nature reserve) in north-central Kazakhstan. White-tailed Sea-Eagle ( Haliaeetus albicilla ), Imperial Eagle ( Aquila heliaca ), Golden Eagle ( A. chrysaetos ), and Steppe Eagle ( A. nipalensis ) all breed at the Zapovednik. Steppe Eagle use of nesting resources was distinct from that of tree-nesting species. We evaluated differences in nest tree and nest habitat characteristics, nest dimensions and positions, and nest spacing among the three forest-dwelling eagle species to distinguish between the effects of inter- and intraspecific resource limitations on species coexistence. Although the different species bred in similar habitat and sometimes reused other species' nests, the dimensions, positions and locations of their nests often differed. These differences did not appear to result from interspecific competition. Nest spacing trends were also species specific; Imperial Eagles generally nested farther from other eagle nests than did Golden Eagles and White-tailed Sea-Eagles. Intraspecific variation in habitat, physical characteristics, and spacing patterns of Imperial Eagle nests was extensive throughout the nature reserve. Although interspecific partitioning of nesting habitat may allow coexistence of ground-nesting Steppe Eagles, interspecific competition did not appear to be a primary determinant of the use of nest habitat, space, or nests by tree-nesting species. Rather, interspecific effects appeared secondary to intraspecific effects in determining coexistence of tree-nesting eagles at this site.

Naurzum Zapovednik↗