2.2. Natural regeneration
Most trees are long-living, immobile, and show a
high fecundity. This combination of traits suggests the
regeneration as the phase of largest potential for
changes of genetic structures during the life cycle
of forests (e.g. Alvarez-Buylla et al., 1996). Numerous
studies prove changes of genetic structures in forest
tree populations during the regeneration due to fertility
variation (e.g. Mitton, 1992), deviation from random mating (e.g. James et al., 1998), and viability
selection in early stages of seed germination or seedling
development