During the last decades, an ongoing spread of broad-leaved evergreen laurophyllous species has been reported for forests of Southern Europe. Several factors were suggested as the main drivers of the phenomenon, namely global warming, land-use change, evolutionary history, and increase in atmospheric CO₂. Among laurophylls, Laurus nobilis L. is considered one of the most prominent from the morphological, evolutionary, and ecological point of view. We studied the population structure of L. nobilis in Central Italy in its natural habitat to investigate its regeneration and potential expansion along with the influence biotic and abiotic factors. To define types of population structures, we collected proportions of six growth classes of L. nobilis in 16 sites. We obtained three types of population structure, i.e., (1) stable, (2) dynamic, and (3) regressive. The first two types are the most frequent, suggesting a potential increase of L. nobilis abundance within forests of Central Italy. The regressive population type occurs mainly in sites with heavy ungulate impact. High propagule pressure along with shaded and moist environmental conditions favor L. nobilis regeneration. Accordingly, we found evidence of a recent L. nobilis spread in Central Italian forests. We suggest the increase of forest cover and age, due to the abandonment of traditional rural practices, as key factors for the regeneration of this apparently late-successional laurophyll. In conclusion, the recent expansion of L. nobilis that we observed in the Italian forest stands can therefore be ascribed to a process of natural recover of a potential niche following land-use change.

在过去的几十年中，据报道南欧森林的阔叶常绿月桂树种正在不断传播。有人提出了造成这一现象的主要因素，这些因素包括全球变暖，土地利用变化，演变历史以及大气中CO _2的增加。其中laurophylls，月桂L.被认为是最突出的一个，从形态学，进化和生态学的角度看。我们研究了意大利中部自然栖息地诺贝尔利希菌的种群结构，以研究其再生和潜在扩展以及对生物和非生物因素的影响。为了定义种群结构的类型，我们收集了六种增长的L. nobilis等级的比例在16个站点中。我们获得了三种类型的人口结构，即（1）稳定，（2）动态和（3）回归。前两种是最常见的类型，表明意大利中部森林中的诺伊氏乳杆菌丰度可能增加。回归种群类型主要发生在有蹄类动物影响较严重的地区。较高的繁殖压力以及阴凉潮湿的环境条件有利于No. nobilis的再生。因此，我们发现了最近在意大利中部森林中传播的No. nobilis的证据。我们建议由于放弃传统的农村耕作方式而增加森林覆盖率和年龄，这是此后继成功的月桂叶素再生的关键因素。总而言之，最近的扩展因此，我们在意大利林分中观察到的L. nobilis可以归因于土地利用变化后潜在生态位的自然恢复过程。