Dwayne Estes,^1,2,*,** Christopher Tracey,^3,*** Ephraim Zimmerman,^4,**** Wesley Knapp,^3,***** James Vanderhorst,^5,****** Jason Singhurst,^6,******* Theo Witsell<sup>1,********

1</sup>Southeastern Grasslands Institute, Austin Peay State University, PO Box 4394, Clarksville, TN 37044
²Center of Excellence for Field Biology, Austin Peay State University, PO Box 4718, Clarksville, TN 37044
³NatureServe, 2550 South Clark Street, Suite 930, Arlington, VA 22202
⁴Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, 800 Waterfront Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
⁵West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, Natural Heritage Program, PO Box 67, Elkins, WV 26241
⁶Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Nongame and Rare Species Program, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, TX 78744

^*Dwayne Estes is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Southeastern Grasslands Institute (SGI), Professor of Biology in the Department of Biology, and Principal Investigator for the Center of Excellence for Field Biology at Austin Peay State University. He has expertise in the flora, ecology, and biogeography of the southeastern U.S.
^**Corresponding author: dwayne.estes@segrasslands.org
^***Christopher Tracey is the Spatial Data Program Manager for NatureServe, and was previously an Ecologist and Conservation Planning Manager for the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program. He has extensive experience in mapping and monitoring rare plants and ecosystems across the mid-Atlantic region, as well as in GIS mapping and spatial modeling.
^****Ephraim Zimmerman is the Science Director for the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program with a background in forest ecology and plant community ecology. He works closely with NatureServe and other Natural Heritage Program ecologists to map, describe, and classify plant communities in Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic Region.
^*****Wesley Knapp is the Chief Botanist at NatureServe. Previously, Wes was a botanist/ecologist for the Maryland and North Carolina Natural Heritage Programs. Wes has extensive field experience across eastern North America and has expertise in flora, extinction, ecology, taxonomy, and morphology.
^******James Vanderhorst is a Vegetation Ecologist (and botanist) working since 1999 for the West Virginia Natural Heritage Program within the WV Division of Natural Resources, Wildlife Section.
^*******Jason Singhurst has served as a Botanist and Plant Ecologist statewide in Texas for 28 years for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. He utilizes his GIS and Remote Sensing skills to map, survey, and document rare habitats on private lands and work with his agency's Land Conservation Program and land trusts to permanently preserve rare plant populations and declining habitats across Texas.
^********Theo Witsell is co-founder and Chief Ecologist for the Southeastern Grasslands Institute (SGI), headquartered at the Center of Excellence for Field Biology at Austin Peay State University. He has also worked for more than two decades as a botanist and ecologist for the Arkansas Natural Heritage Program and has expertise in the flora and ecology of the southeastern and midwestern U.S.