Natural revegetation relies on natural plant succession. Succession is the predictable, gradual, and sequential change in plant communities over a given period of time. An area of bare soil, if left undisturbed, will naturally advance from: (1) annual grasses and forbs (broadleaf plants); to (2) perennial grasses and forbs; then to (3) shrubs, vines and briars; followed by (4) young forest tree species; and finally (5) a mature/climax forest. (Quoted from www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/hunt/revege.pdf )

If you leave the fallen debris, you will have a better habitat for animals in the area and it will enrich the forest soil as it decays. The opposite side of the coin is the litter will create a greater fire hazard if you get a period of drought.

The plant succession described in the dnr info posted by esh_ga is accurate but is very slow. If you want to "reforest" the area quickly, you might consider replanting tree seedlings yourself.

A good source for information for your specific area would be your state department of forestry or your local cooperative extension office. They would be able to tell you what invasives to watch for as well as what you could replant to improve the situation. They also might know of sources for free seedlings as some groups provide them every year.

I hope this has helped. We lost many trees throughout our area from Hurricane Isabel a couple of years ago and I don't see a dramatic change in the understory situation. But nature is very slow. It's difficult to tell what 10 or 20 years might bring in any given situation.

Sandy

Thanks all.

You might see some lovely wildflowers that have just been waiting for sunlight. Then in a year or two you could see things like elderberry, blackberry and raspbery also some sumac. Ailantus might show up then also and if so, you should try to kill it as it is invasive. Birches will proably be the some first true trees you see followed by maples. This is true only if you hasve a good sized open area. Otherwise you will have wildflowers and then understory trees such as maple and dogwood etc.

Shadowgarden, you either know your woods' or you have mine under surveillance. Much of what you predicted is starting to happen.
Wood asters have significantly increased the amount of area they cover. Small ailanthus saplings are showing up which I have been plucking. Blackberries are making inroads into these areas although that was already starting even before the massive tree damage. Cherry trees are volunteering all over but that also pre-dates the storm damage. We have some maple saplings - some are good and some are norways. Elderberry has gained a lot of ground on the property but so far not in the worst of the storm-damaged areas. We also have another type of tree that is starting to volunteer abundantly in one the affected areas but I have not yet identified the species (it is not oak, maple, ailanthus, or sassafras). In another part, some sort of nut tree is volunteering - that predates the storms but seems to have taken off greatly after the storm damage. Some of what I think are cherry tree volunteers might really be birches of one sort or another. I hadn't thought of that so thanks much!!!