From 1987 to 1992, trees were mapped in seven old-growth stands (0.6-1.0 ha plots) and two agricultural stands (0.1-0.6 ha plots) within coves of the northeastern Great Smoky Mountains. The old-growth stands had no evidence of catastrophic disturbance. The second-growth stands developed in fields abandoned ca. 1920. Old-growth sites tended to have higher levels of stand biomass, woody debris volume, large snag density, species equitability, tree size diversity, and gap size diversity. Second-growth stands had higher levels of net primary production and tree species richness. Over several decades, marked changes were apparent in the composition, structure, and diversity of second-growth stands, but not of old-growth stands. Small-scale (<0.1 ha) patch dynamics were inferred from the small patches formed by gap disturbances and by conspecific aggregations in old-growth stands. Although these individual patches may have changed rapidly, stand-level changes were gradual in the old stands. Thus the patch dynamics concept of a shifting-mosaic steady-state seems appropriate. Whether a true steady-state has existed at any spatial scale for old-growth cove forest composition is an unresolved issue, however. Further long-term research on these forests will contribute greatly to our understanding of changes in natural deciduous forests of the temperate zone.