Deforestation and forest fragmentation have serious negative consequences for biodiversity and species distribution, but many studies approach species distributions and speciation processes without taking in account the local history of human disturbances. Nevertheless, the complex recovery process after forest destruction is widely distributed around the world and takes place under a wide mosaic of biotic and abiotic factors that may be influencing the species distribution. In this study aerial pictures from 1951 and 2019 were used to assess forest recovery during about sixty years. We tested if the initial stage (forest completely destroyed or young growth forest in 1951) determines the successional process, evaluating the role of different spatial drivers (distance from remnant forest fragments and unfelled areas around each site) and mesoclimate conditions, by examining 40 disturbed sites and 18 old-growth forest sites distinguished in 1951 aerial photos. The final stage during this successional process was assessed using 2019 aerial photos, covering the same these sites. At each plot, plant species composition and forest structure were studied, which allowed us to obtain a maturity index. Our results reveal that the initial stage is not the only driver explaining forest structure and species composition at the end of the 60-year period analyzed. The role of each forest recovery driver varies depending on each stage. In the early successional stages, the slope aspect (exposure) was the most important factor, which is correlated with mesoclimatic conditions, followed by the distance from young-growth forest in 1951. However, in intermediate successional stages the cover of old-growth forest around each plot in 1951 was the main factor in the recovery. At the end of the study period (2019), the differences in species richness between young-growth and old-growth forest were not significant, although old-growth forests were characterized by high densities of endemics, threatened species and β-diversity, showing the species composition a strong dependence on forest structure. Our results reveal the important need to consider human disturbance history in forest research and how climate conditions and the lack of nearby remnants can negatively affect the forest recovery process, greatly increasing the time needed to return to old-growth laurel forest conditions, which requires specific management recommendations.

森林砍伐和森林破碎化对生物多样性和物种分布具有严重的负面影响，但许多研究在处理物种分布和物种形成过程时没有考虑当地人类干扰的历史。然而，森林破坏后复杂的恢复过程广泛分布在世界各地，并且发生在可能影响物种分布的各种生物和非生物因素的广泛镶嵌下。在这项研究中，1951 年和 2019 年的航拍照片用于评估大约 60 年的森林恢复情况。我们测试了初始阶段（森林完全破坏或 1951 年的幼林）是否决定了演替过程，通过检查 1951 年航拍照片中区分的 40 个受干扰地点和 18 个原始森林地点，评估不同空间驱动因素（与每个地点周围的残余森林碎片和未砍伐区域的距离）和中气候条件的作用。这个演替过程的最后阶段是使用 2019 年的航拍照片进行评估的，这些照片涵盖了相同的地点。在每个地块上，研究了植物物种组成和森林结构，这使我们能够获得成熟度指数。我们的结果表明，初始阶段并不是在所分析的 60 年期末解释森林结构和物种组成的唯一驱动因素。每个森林恢复驱动程序的作用因每个阶段而异。在早期演替阶段，坡向（暴露）是最重要的因素，与中气候条件有关，其次是与1951年幼林的距离。然而，在中间演替阶段，1951年每个样地周围的老林覆盖是恢复的主要因素。在研究期末（2019 年），尽管老林具有地方性、受威胁物种和 β 多样性密度高的特点，但幼林和老林之间的物种丰富度差异不显着，表明物种组成对森林结构有很强的依赖性。我们的结果揭示了在森林研究中考虑人类干扰历史的重要需要，以及气候条件和附近残余物的缺乏如何对森林恢复过程产生负面影响，