In this review, we focus on the biotic parameters that are crucial to an understanding of the recruitment dynamics of North American boreal tree species following natural (fire, budworm infestation, windthrow) or human-induced (clearcut, partial cut) disturbances. The parameters we emphasize are (i) the production of seeds and asexual stems (both of which, we argue, are a function of basal area density), (ii) the dispersal of seeds by wind (or the dispersion of asexual stems) as a function of distance from source, (iii) dormant seed bank capacity, (iv) organic layer depth as a determinant of germinant mortality and asexual bud response, and (v) shade tolerance as a partial arbiter of the density of advanced regeneration. Having identified the gaps in our knowledge, we conclude by suggesting a short-term research agenda whose completion would lead to the parameterized functions that would constitute the recruitment subroutine in a landscape-scale forest dynamics simulator.