Question

What is a climax community?

Answer 1

A climax community is the final stage of year slong ecological succession, where the biota develops an indefinite stability with its environment, until an external change disrupts this equilibrium and leads to another succession.

Complete answer:
The world as we see it today, hasn’t always been the same. It is the result of innumerable changes in the biosphere as a whole, over billions of years. The changing environment of a region leads to slow but eventual changes in its biotic component, this gradual change is called ecological succession.
Succession can be of 2 types:
-Primary succession: Occurs in a region which was initially barren and showed no signs of pre-existing life.
-Secondary succession: Takes place where an already existing community was altered or removed due to natural or human interference.
The gradual change starts from the very first species that arrive in the newly created habitable environment, they are called pioneer species. They form a biological community amongst themselves which grow complex with time and with the interference of more species that arrive. The biological communities that are formed and changed over time along with their environment are called seral stages. Every seral stages changes at a different rate and gives rise to a new community.
Seral stages in which the rate of change is negligible and the community remains constant is called climax community. This community forms an equilibrium with the environment and can be defined as the last stage of ecological succession. At this stage the biotic component of the region lives in perfect harmony with the abiotic component, requiring no alterations.

Note:
If a climax community is once developed, it remains as such until the environment is suddenly changed. This change can be caused by a natural disaster like volcanic eruption, landslides or by human interference like deforestation or fires.