A large, old tree deep in the forest was knocked down in a windstorm. as it fell, it pushed four other somewhat smaller trees down with it, opening up quite a large patch of sunlight in an area that had been shady for many decades. what is most likely to happen in the sunny patch in terms of plant growth? no plants will be able to grow in it until neighboring trees shade it more. seeds of sun-loving plants will germinate and grow in it. primary succession will start with very small plants or lichens. shade-loving plants will grow in it, since it is in the forest.

Forests generally have different layers of trees. Thus, the ground layer of forests is usually barren or dominated by a few shade-tolerant plant species.

When gaps emerge in an otherwise close canopy either naturally or by other means, the dynamics of plant population on the ground layer change.

If the ground layer is barren before due to shade, propagules of sun-loving plant species will colonize and begin to germinate in the gaps. If the layer has some shade-tolerant herbs before, competition for space starts between the sun-loving and shade-tolerant species.

With time, the shade-tolerant species die off and are replaced by sun-loving plant species.

More on forests can be found here: https://brainly.com/question/3530564

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