Normal distributions can however be truncated or distorted by management actions. In the easiest cases, two independent normal distributions can be isolated. However, this apparent shape may be an artefact of the scale. Small areas or patches within the stand may be normally or bimodally distributed, but when these patches are added together, the overall effect appears to be a reverse-J distribution. When added together, these distributions resulted in the typical reverse-J pattern.
Research is currently underway to determine an optimal distribution pattern for uneven-aged forests.
There is no reason to believe that the simple geometric pattern of De Liocourt or even the continuous distribution modelled by a negative exponential function is optimal for site occupancy or biodiversity.