Process / pipelineGrowth and Yield

Weibull Diameter Distribution

The Weibull diameter distribution is a flexible three-parameter probability model used to describe the size-class distribution (proportion of trees by diameter class) in forest stands. Introduced by Bailey and Dell in 1973, the Weibull function provides an excellent fit to observed diameter distributions across diverse forest types and management histories. It is widely used in growth simulators, yield models, and forest inventory analysis because it can capture a variety of distribution shapes (right-skewed, near-normal, and even multi-modal) with just three parameters.

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Sources

  1. Bailey, R. L., & Dell, T. R. (1973). Quantifying diameter distributions with the Weibull function. Forest Science, 19(2), 97–104. DOI: 10.1093/forestscience/19.2.97
  2. Rennolls, K., Geary, D. N., & Rollinson, T. J. (1985). Characterizing diameter distributions by the use of the Weibull distribution. Forestry, 58(1), 57–66. DOI: 10.1093/forestry/58.1.57

Related methods

ScholarGateWeibull Diameter Distribution (Weibull Diameter Distribution Model). Retrieved 2026-06-04 from https://scholargate.app/en/forestry/weibull-diameter-distribution