Pioneer species

A number of kinds of events can create good conditions for pioneers, including disruption by natural disasters, such as wildfire, flood, mudslide, lava flow or a climate-related extinction event[1] or by anthropogenic habitat destruction, such as through land clearance for agriculture or construction or industrial damage.

[2] For humans, because pioneer species quickly occupy disrupted spaces they are sometimes treated as weeds or nuisance wildlife, such as the common dandelion or stinging nettle.

Pioneer species will eventually die, create plant litter, and break down as "leaf mold" after some time, making new soil for secondary succession (see below), and releasing nutrients for small fish and aquatic plants in adjacent bodies of water.

Bacteria and fungi are the most important groups in the breakdown of organic detritus left by primary producing plants such as skeletal soil, moss and algae.

Natterjack toads are specialists in open, sparsely vegetated habitats which may be at an early seral stage.

In a profound example, a seabird colony transfers considerable nitrogen into infertile soils, thereby altering plant growth.

If a space becomes newly available in a reef surrounding, haplosclerid and calcareous sponges are the first animals to initially occur in this environment in greater numbers than other species.

Pioneer species of plant growing in cracks on a solidified recently erupted lava flow in Hawaii
Pioneer plants growing on solidified lava on Pico , Azores , avoiding local laurisilva competition
The diagram above shows how pioneer species lead to soil formation and allow less rugged fauna to grow in the area.
  1. Bare rock
  2. Weathering allows hardy pioneer species to grow on the rocks.
  3. Decomposition of pioneer species provides organic material to make soil.
  4. Small annual plants are able to grow on the soil.
  5. As the soil layer grows plants such as trees are able to colonize the area.
Centaurea maculosa , an example of pioneer species