Effects of historical land use and recovery pathways on composition, structure, ecological function, and ecosystem services in a Caribbean secondary forest

•Historical land use drives successional trajectories in tropical secondary forests.•Canopy cover and regeneration pathways affect composition, structure, and function.•Regenerated late secondary forests provide multiple ecosystem services (ES).•Regulating ES vary with native/non-native tree species and size class.•The findings advance knowledge about Caribbean secondary forest function and ES.