1 Introduction Afforestation projects increasingly consider genetic diversity as integral to delivering resilient future tree populations (Aavik et al. 2012; Espeland et al. 2017; Jalonen et al. 2018; Mijangos et al. 2015; Shaw et al. 2025; Thomas et al. 2014). Consequently, the effects of alternative active and passive afforestation practices on population and landscape genetic diversity are the subject of growing attention (Jordan et al. 2019; Mijangos et al. 2015; Wei et al. 2023).
