The inventory plot was established in 2003 for studies of forest dynamics by professors John Vandermeer of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Ivette Perfecto of the School of Natural Resources and Environment. This summer's resurvey was led by David Allen, a visiting assistant professor at Middlebury. Allen is a U-M alumnus who did the fieldwork for his doctoral dissertation at the George Reserve forest inventory plot. The George Reserve plot reveals a forest in transition. Most of the largest trees are oaks and hickories, some of them more than 100 years old. But in response to wildfire suppression over the past century or so, fire-intolerant species such as the red maple and black cherry have moved in and now account for most of the youngest trees. In addition, the understory is being challenged by invasive species such Japanese barberry, a shrub. "The old oaks and hickories are being replaced by the red maples and the black cherries," said Dick, an associate professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and associate curator at the U-M Herbarium. "By including very small trees in the census, we're able to see the dynamics that are taking place and can better predict the forest of the future." Trees from 41 species were recorded during this summer's census. "At the global level, this forest will now be part of a network of plots used to monitor how biomass and tree mortality change as carbon dioxide continues to increase, as well as the role of forests in taking up some of that excess carbon dioxide," Dick said. "So this network will be an invaluable tool for tracking forest responses to climate change." Plots in the Smithsonian network are surveyed every five years or so to measure tree growth, mortality and the recruitment of young trees. Although the Smithsonian plots were started as a way to study species-rich tropical forests, the methods have been adopted by temperate-forest researchers, first in China and later in Europe and the United States. U-M's Edwin S. George Reserve was established in 1930. Since then, more than 475 research papers have been published using studies carried out wholly or partly at the reserve. More than 80 doctoral dissertations and more than 30 master's theses have resulted from graduate studies at the reserve. Long-term studies at the reserve include decades-old investigations of turtle life histories and reproductive success, a demographic study of the resident white-tailed deer herd, and a study of amphibian communities in 37 ponds on the property. U-M's Edwin S. George Reserve: http://sites.lsa.umich.edu/esgrSmithsonian Institution's Forest Global Earth Observatory network: www.forestgeo.si.edu