What community completeness can tell about the conservation status of ecosystems: a test on vascular plants in Fagus sylvatica forests.

Beech forests are among the habitats with the highest naturalness in Europe. They are often considered as species-poor ecosystems since beech is highly competitive especially for light, but examples of species-rich beech forests are also well-documented. It is unclear if the lack of species in many beech forests is due to natural drivers or to anthropic management. In this study we investigated the patterns of plant community completeness in the beech forests of Tuscany, central Italy. We conclude that community completeness can be used as an indicator of the conservation status of beech forests, since testing the role of different drivers in relation to forest type allows distinguishing natural lacks of species from those induced by human influences.