Studies near the Great Slave Lake revealed mountain cranberry and bog blueberry seed in 65 percent of the cores sampled. Seed densities averaged 3.3 per 1,000 cc, but only 21 percent were viable. Rhizomes grow well in peat but can also penetrate to mineral soil. He found that 22.1 percent of the shoots were located terminally and 77.9 percent arose at midrhizome locations. Rhizome characteristics as related to various site characteristics have been examined in detail.
Mountain cranberry grows under a variety of climatic regimes.
Mountain cranberry also invades senescent cottongrass tussock communities and areas of frost activity after the establishment of initial pioneers. However, on some sites, seral mat communities made up of mountain cranberry, crowberry, and lichens eventually give rise to white spruce stands. In black spruce stands in interior Alaska, mountain cranberry is present within 5 to 30 years after disturbance and persists for many years. In sedge-tussock tundra and shrub tundra communities of Alaska's Seward Peninsula, bryophytes initially reestablished burned sites. Bryophytes often reach maximum cover within 2 to 4 years after fire, but the recovery of shrubs such as mountain cranberry is often much slower.