Final answer:
Communities undergoing primary succession develop in areas without prior biological communities. Pioneer species are the first to colonize these areas, modifying the environment to allow other species to follow. Over time, this leads to a diverse and stable community.
Step-by-step explanation:
Communities undergoing primary succession are those that develop in areas where no community previously existed. This process occurs in places with newly exposed or newly formed land, such as after a volcanic eruption or when glaciers recede.
The first organisms to colonize such land are known as pioneer species, which typically include hearty plants and lichens that thrive with few soil requirements and contribute to soil formation over time. An example of primary succession is the new land formed by lava flows on the Big Island of Hawaii, where about 32 acres of land are added yearly through volcanic activity. As the pioneer species establish themselves, they modify the environment in ways that allow other species to follow, leading to a change over time in the numbers and types of species living in the area, until a stable community is established.