Question

What are pioneer species? Give an example.

Answer 1

Hint: Ecological succession refers to the changes which occur over time in the species organization in a particular area. The succession has to start with some particular species; they are often referred to as “pioneers”.

Complete answer: To answer this question, a thorough study about the ecological succession and different communities is required.
Ecological succession is a process or a gradual change in the specific organization of an ecological community over time.
Here, the time span could range between a few decades to even millions of years.
In ecological succession, a pioneer community undergoes different levels of succession (primary, secondary, etc.) and the ecosystem advances towards the climax community.
The hardy organisms (species) which first attempt to colonize an ecosystem are called pioneer species. For example, Lyme grass (Leymus arenarius) species are the first to colonize the barren sand ecosystem.

Note: Among the entire sequence of communities, an intermediate stage or a transitional community found in ecological succession is called a sere or a seral community. The transitions are termed as the seral stages. In each such stage, there is a change in the diversity of organisms or species.