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Within the past decade, Scrophulariaceae sensu lato has been shown to be polyphyletic and, as a result, is currently undergoing major systematic revision. The traditionally recognized family is now generally considered to comprise several smaller families including the newly expanded Plantaginaceae, a family of 12 tribes, 92 genera, and approximately 2000 species. Recent evidence from molecular phylogenetics supports the inclusion of the tribe Gratioleae within the Plantaginaceae. Gratioleae includes 16-40 genera, depending on generic circumscription, many of which have yet to be assessed phylogenetically. Amphianthus is a monotypic genus whose systematic affinities have long been poorly known. We included Amphianthus, 10 additional Gratioleae genera, and several outgroup genera from Plantaginaceae in a phylogenetic investigation to examine the relationships of Amphianthus. We present the most complete phylogeny of the Gratioleae to date and provide evidence from chloroplast DNA sequences of the ndhF gene and the trnS-trnG-trnG intergenic spacer and intron that unequivocally place Amphianthus within Gratiola, and discuss the morphological evidence supporting our findings. Based on this evidence, we transfer the sole species of Amphianthus (Amphianthus pusillus) to Gratiola, establishing the new name Gratiola amphiantha and placing Amphianthus in synonymy with Gratiola.

Science Needs of Southeastern Grassland Species of Conservation Concern: Species Status Assessment Framework extinctions, and human attitudes and behaviors; (4) invasive species (not limited to nonnative species); and (5) localized or subregional impacts such as sea-level rise. In addition to group discussions, workshop participants-as well as other grassland experts who were unable to attend the workshopcompleted a preworkshop survey concerning challenges and opportunities for grassland conservation. Findings reported here under each of these topics represent ideas, problems, hypotheses, and questions identified by a diverse community of grassland managers and researchers which may be addressed by future research and monitoring in southeastern grassland ecosystems to help guide science-based conservation of grassland-dependent species. Figure 1. Summed range-size rarity of imperiled species from the Map of Biodiversity Importance (NatureServe , 2021). This map was developed from habitat suitability models for 2,216 species ranked as critically imperiled (G1), imperiled (G2), or listed as endangered or threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Taxa include vertebrates, vascular plants, selected aquatic invertebrates (mussels and crayfish), and selected pollinators (bumblebees, butterflies, and skippers). High values identify areas with greater numbers of imperiled species with restricted ranges. Details on the habitat models used to produce this map are available from NatureServe (2021). HerbivoryLarge herbivores are second only to fire as a dominant factor maintaining large areas of grassland worldwide. Grazing and browsing by a succession of large herbivores during and since the Pleistocene is the most plausible explanation for the persistence of high-elevation grassy balds in the southern Appalachians (Weigl and Knowles, 2014). Elsewhere,

Species status assessments can be improved by an ecosystem-based approach that groups imperiled species by shared habitats and threats.

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