Status and distribution of four endemic vascular plants in the Gobi Altai

The paper presents distributional data on the four vascular plants Papaver saichanense, Saussurea saichanensis, Potentilla ikonnikovii and Galitzkya macrocarpa, all of which are restricted to Mongolian mountains. Updated biogeographical data demonstrate that all four are Mongolian endemics. In terms of their taxonomic relationships, S. saichanensis and P. saichanense belong to a group of species occurring mainly on continental Asian mountains. Potentilla ikonnikovii has relatives with a mainly East-Asian distribution, and the genus Galitzkya is a predominantly Mid-Asian element.
New maps of the local distribution in the Gobi Altai and adjacent mountains indicate that all species are highly fragmented and are so far only known to occur in less than a dozen localities. We have since discovered new sites and subsequently have little reason to regard the species as threatened, although the
overall rarity suggests that some form of rough monitoring is advisable.