Monitoring and assessment reveal important information about restoration areas and can also be useful for understanding ecological processes such as succession and species-area relationships. Herein, we investigated whether the time after restoration determines the similarity between restoration forests and reference ecosystems, and whether the age and width of the forest as well as the surrounding forest cover have an influence on forest restoration. The tree stratum, seed rain, and regenerating stratum were monitored in a reference ecosystem and four 10-year and 20-year-old restoration forests of different widths in southeastern Brazil. We verified that both 10- and 20-year-old restoration forests were like the reference ecosystem in the species richness, diversity, number of individuals, and functional groups of the tree stratum and seed rain. However, the floristic composition of the three strata evaluated plus the number of regenerating plants were lower in the restoration forests than in the reference ecosystem, which may be due to the agricultural matrix where the restoration forests were inserted. We also found that most of the ecological indicators were associated with increasing forest width meaning that wider strips can recover more vegetation attributes. The study indicates that various indicators can be recovered within a decade of active restoration (seedling planting) in the tropics. The regenerating stratum however may require more than two decades to recover. As the restoration was associated with increasing forest width, restoration practitioners should restore wider areas so that more biological groups can be recovered.

监测和评估揭示了有关恢复区的重要信息，并且对于理解生态过程（例如演替和物种/地区关系）也很有用。在此，我们调查了恢复后的时间是否决定了恢复森林与参考生态系统之间的相似性，以及森林的年龄和宽度以及周围的森林覆盖率是否对森林恢复产生影响。在巴西东南部的一个参考生态系统和四个10年和20年不同宽度的恢复森林中，监测了树木的地层，种子雨和再生层。我们验证了10和20年的恢复森林在树种层和种子雨的物种丰富度，多样性，个体数量以及功能组方面都像参考生态系统。但是，恢复森林中评估的三个层的植物组成加上可再生植物的数量低于参考生态系统，这可能是由于插入恢复森林的农业基质造成的。我们还发现，大多数生态指标与森林宽度的增加有关，这意味着更宽的条带可以恢复更多的植被属性。研究表明，在热带地区积极恢复（苗木种植）的十年内可以恢复各种指标。然而，再生层可能需要超过二十年的时间才能恢复。由于恢复与森林宽度的增加有关，恢复从业人员应恢复更广阔的区域，以便可以恢复更多的生物种群。恢复林中评估的三个层的植物组成加上可再生植物的数量低于参考生态系统，这可能是由于插入恢复林的农业基质造成的。我们还发现，大多数生态指标与森林宽度的增加有关，这意味着更宽的条带可以恢复更多的植被属性。研究表明，在热带地区积极恢复（苗木种植）的十年内可以恢复各种指标。然而，再生层可能需要超过二十年的时间才能恢复。由于恢复与森林宽度的增加有关，恢复从业人员应恢复更广阔的区域，以便可以恢复更多的生物种群。恢复林中评估的三个层的植物组成加上可再生植物的数量低于参考生态系统，这可能是由于插入恢复林的农业基质造成的。我们还发现，大多数生态指标与森林宽度的增加有关，这意味着更宽的条带可以恢复更多的植被属性。研究表明，在热带地区积极恢复（苗木种植）的十年内可以恢复各种指标。然而，再生层可能需要超过二十年的时间才能恢复。由于恢复与森林宽度的增加有关，恢复从业人员应恢复更广阔的区域，以便可以恢复更多的生物种群。