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Fitting irregular diameter distributions of forest stands by Weibull, modified Weibull, and mixture Weibull models

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Journal of Forest Research

Abstract

Irregular diameter frequency distributions of forest stands include multimodal structure of mixed-species stands, highly skewed and highly irregular shapes of uneven-aged stands, and rotated sigmoid form of old-growth stands. In this study, a traditional two-parameter Weibull model, a modified two-parameter Weibull model, and a finite mixture of two-parameter Weibull models were used to fit four artificial example plots. The model fitting and comparison results indicate that the mixture Weibull model is more flexible to fit various irregular diameter distributions, while the traditional Weibull model fails in every case to adequately describe these frequency distributions. The modified Weibull model is a good choice for fitting the “rotated-sigmoid” diameter distribution of an uneven-aged old-growth stand. However, it may not be sufficient when a diameter frequency distribution is multimodal or highly irregular in shape.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Forest and Natural Resources Management, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY, 13210, USA

    Lianjun Zhang

  2. Forintek Canada Corporation, 319 rue Franquet, Sainte-Foy, QC, Canada

    Chuangmin Liu

Authors
  1. Lianjun Zhang
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  2. Chuangmin Liu
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Correspondence to Lianjun Zhang.

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Zhang, L., Liu, C. Fitting irregular diameter distributions of forest stands by Weibull, modified Weibull, and mixture Weibull models. J For Res 11, 369–372 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10310-006-0218-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10310-006-0218-7

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