Woody plant expansion is a global phenomenon and has been demonstrated to have impacts on the global carbon (C) cycle as a substantial C sink. Land-cover change in western New York has followed a pattern common to the northeastern US as presettlement forests were extensively cleared for agriculture use. In the past several decades, a substantial portion of this agricultural land has been left to natural succession. This study investigates soil C dynamics across a chronosequence of habitats representing this land-cover change including old fields, shrublands, and early successional forests. Despite substantial shifts in plant community composition and structure, neither soil respiration nor soil organic matter changed significantly with habitat type. While consequences of this land-cover change in western New York remain inconclusive, the scale of this change could result in substantial shifts in regional ecosystem C dynamics.