Areas of endemism are a standard unit of biogeography and are commonly used for 26 analytical biogeographic analyses and as a criterion to identify areas for conservation.
27Galianthe is a genus of 56 species mainly herbaceous plants from the family Rubiaceae 28 found in the Neotropics, occurring in campos rupestres (quartzitic rock outcrops), cerrado 29 (savanna), lowland grasslands, campos de altitude (highland grasslands), sasonally dry 30 tropical forests (caatinga vegetation), and savanna hillsides. Currently, the conservation 31 status assessment is only known for eleven species of Galianthe, and there have been no 32 previous attempts to identify areas of endemism for the genus. In view of this, we used the 33 NDM/VNDM software to analyze the distribution of the 56 species of Galianthe to identify 34 areas of endemism and to recognize which species define each area. We also evaluated the 35 conservation status of forty-five species for first time, according to the International Union 36 for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines. Our finding identified 12 areas of endemism 37 with three cell sizes, mainly in the eastern part of Paraguay and southern Brazil. Illustrating 38 the general biodiversity crisis, 41% of the Galianthe species (23 spp.), were evaluated as 39 Endangered due to their degree of endemism and destruction of their habitat, while 31 40 species were evaluated as not threatened and two species had Insufficient Data. In turn, 41 only five threatened species were found within or on the periphery of protected areas. We 42 consider that, although protected areas are designed to protect biodiversity, in recent 43 decades they have experienced different degrees of threat in and around them, due to the 44 high risk of many species of the genus, it is necessary to consider restoration (as a 45 complement to conservation) of the processes that maintain grasslands to conserve unique, 46 endemic and threatened species. stands out, with unique and diverse habitats in terms of flora and fauna (Forzza et al., 2012; 54 Ulloa-Uloa et al., 2017). In recent years, endemicity has reached an increasing importance 55 in the biology of conservation and in the delimitation of conservation areas (Faith, 1992; 56