What is pioneer vegetation?
Pioneer species are species which colonize previously uncolonized land, usually leading to ecological succession. Since uncolonized land usually has thin, poor quality soils with few nutrients, pioneer species are typically very hearty plants with adaptations such as long roots, root nodes containing nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and leaves that employ transpiration. Pioneer species are often grasses such as marram grass, which grows on sand dunes. The plants, or anything that has the system of a plant, will be specially adapted to the extremes that may be experienced, and once they have modified the environment may be out-competed by less specific plants, eventually leading to a climax community.