先锋物种是一个生态学概念，指得是一个生态群落的演替早期阶段或演替中期阶段的物种。先锋物种在生态恢复中被使用，对于一个受到破坏、丧失原有动植物群落的环境，先锋物种即在破坏后较早出现且相对容易生存。

先锋物种并不专指某一种生物，对于不同的生态群落，先锋物种往往不同且有多种。用先锋物种搭建生态群落的方法称为物种框架方法。对于一个待恢复的生态群落，通常采用喜光的、易于传播的草本植物作为先锋物种。它们在演替的早期出现，可以改变地区土质，招引动物，为其他植物、动物的恢复创造条件，这个阶段被称作先锋阶段，次生植被出现后，逐步进入群落的演替阶段或发育阶段，最终形成的稳定系统到达演替顶级。先锋物种在演替过程中可能被替代，比如于高大乔木的出现，喜光的草本植物往往不能适应树下阴暗潮湿的环境，从而被喜阴的植物替代。同样，先锋物种也可能会抑制后来物种的发展。

Pioneer species are hardy species which are the first to colonize previously disrupted or damaged ecosystems, beginning a chain of ecological succession that ultimately leads to a more biodiverse steady-state ecosystem. Some lichens grow on rocks without soil, so may be among the first of life forms, and break down the rock into soil for other plants. Since some uncolonized land may have thin, poor quality soils with few nutrients, pioneer species are often hardy plants with adaptations such as long roots, root nodes containing nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and leaves that employ transpiration. Pioneer species will die creating plant litter, and break down as "leaf mold" after some time, making new soil for secondary succession (see below), and nutrients for small fish and aquatic plants in adjacent bodies of water.