Afrotropical secondary forests in Central Africa recover quickly in terms of tree diversity and root carbon after shifting cultivation, but the composition of tree species and above-ground carbon stocks take longer to bounce back. The study looked at different stages of forest regrowth and found that after six decades, diversity and some carbon levels were close to those of old-growth forests. However, the types of trees and the amount of carbon stored were still not fully restored. This shows that while these forests can recover some aspects relatively fast, others like specific tree species and carbon storage take much longer to return to their original state.