The mixed deciduous forests of northern Michigan are currently undergoing partial defoliation due to age-related senescence of bigtooth aspen (Populus grandidentata) and white birch (Betula papyrifera). The Forest Accelerated Succession Experiment (FASET) at the University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS) simulated this process through the girdling of >6,700 aspen and birch in 2008. Despite a 44% decrease in leaf area by 2010, net primary production (NPP), a primary component of total ecosystem C storage, has been resistant (Nave et al, 2011). This study links canopy disturbance severity with changes in community composition and ecosystem functions, such as carbon and nitrogen cycling. Over a gradient of moderate disturbance severities, I determined the relative contributions of dominant and subdominant species to NPP resistance to partial canopy defoliation. Additionally, I examined how resource reallocation of light and nitrogen mediates the relative contributions of subdominant and subdominant species to wood NPP.