The purpose of this study is to investigate characteristic changes in forest, abandoned agricultural field and wetland stands over a 40 year period. The Bolleswood Natural Area (BNA), established in 1952 within the Connecticut College Arboretum, is a 60.5 ha permanently protected landscape with a well-documented land-use and disturbance history. Vegetation surveys on four permanent transects in the BNA began when the natural area was established and have been resurveyed every 10 years. A total of eighty-nine sections were classified into one of eight stand types in the initial survey: oak, oak-hemlock, hemlock-hardwood, red maple swamp, transition forest, thicket, bog and lake. These initial stand types were analyzed for changes in composition (basal area and density) using Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMS) ordination analysis. NMS places plots in a given number of dimensions (axes) such that the distances between each plot in the ordination graph represent their overall similarity in species composition. Overall, post-agricultural stands (transitional forests and thickets) have diverged as distinct stand types. Transitional forests and mature oak stands were very similar in species composition, with increasing abundance of American beech (Fagus grandifolia) and decreasing abundance of white oak (Quercus alba) over time. Thickets show an opposite trajectory in basal area ordinations due to an increase in the abundance of white oak (Q. alba) and hickory (Carya spp.) over time. In general, there is a convergence of species composition across all 1992 density plots, correlated with increasing red maple (Acer rubrum) in all vegetation types over time.