Exposure, elevation and forest structure predict the abundance of saproxylic beetles' communities in mountain managed beech forests

Forests provide multiple ecosystem services and are important for the conservation of insects´ communities. To preserve insects´diversity, their management should combine sustainable forest production with retention of high value habitats for biodiversityconservation. The fast pace at which pristine forests are vanishing, along with their associated species, has moved the attention ofthe forest science community to revert this loss by improving the status of biodiversity even in managed forests.In forest ecosystems, saproxylic species (i.e., related to deadwood and microhabitats) are an important component of biodiversitywhich is negatively affected by changes induced by intensive management. This is because this ecological group is an indicator offorest naturalness, as its presence is related with high deadwood amount and diversity.