Recruitment of European beech, Norway spruce and silver fir in uneven-aged forests: optimal and critical stand, site and climatic conditions

•Recruitment of beech, spruce and fir in uneven-aged stands studied on 200 m2 plots.•Optimal and critical levels of 18 influential factors determined with the Tobit model.•Stand basal area and the proportion of target tree species are key factors.•Stocking control is efficient for regulating recruitment of spruce and beech.•Fir recruitment is weakly limited by stand density and largely stochastic.