Soil Metal Concentrations and Plant Productivity in an Urban Brownfield: Since productivity measured along a resource or stress gradient can be used as an indicator of competitive effectiveness, we examined plant productivity using both satellite imagery and field spectral measurement at the assemblage and individual specimen level. In addition, we studied longer term growth trends via tree core data (basal area increase). Primary productivity (1) content (calculated with NDVI) within the hardwood assemblage correlated with a threshold model for metal tolerance, decreasing significantly beyond a total soil metal index of 3.5. Production in the successional old field (sof) exhibited a linear relationship with total soil metal load. Biomass production (calculated with RG – Red/Green ratio index) in Betula populifolia (grey birch), the co-dominant tree species, demonstrated an inverse relationship with the concentration of Zn in the leaf tissue during the growing season. Incremental basal area growth in B. populifolia exhibited a statistically significant relationship to total soil metal load. Interestingly species diversity (Shannon Index), also yielded a rectilinear relationship with total soil metal load.