More info on this topic. More info for the terms:
climax,
cover,
litter,
mesic,
seed,
successionFacultative Seral Species
Red mulberry is found in both mid-successional and climax forests. In
old fields in Illinois germination peaks occurred at high
temperature/moderate moisture and moderate temperature/high moisture
conditions. Germination was highest in soils with intermediate levels
of organic matter. Seedling emergence was negatively associated with
irradiance and poisitively associated with litter cover [
5]. In
Mississippi red mulberry seedlings establish in reforested bottomland
old fields [
23]. It is also found in reforested (83-year-old and
110-year-old) old fields in North Carolina. It is not always an early
colonizer of old fields [
4]. In north-central Texas red mulberry occurs
in undisturbed winged elm (Ulmus alata)-post oak (Quercus
stellata)-Shumard oak (Q. shumardii) stands, but not in successional
stands [
24]. A study of oldfield succession in Ohio found that red
mulberry was present in 90-year-old stands but not in younger stands.
The authors reported only one red mulberry seed germinating from soil
samples taken from a 200-year-old stand [
28]. Burton and Bazzaz [
5]
suggested that based on average emergence across a range of seral
habitats, red mulberry is less successful in colonizing old fields than
honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos), red maple, ashes (Fraxinus spp.),
hawthorns (Crataegus spp.), and black cherry (Prunus serotina).
Red mulberry grows best in the open, but is somewhat tolerant of shade
[
19]. In old-growth, mesic forests, red mulberry is found in mid-sized
gaps (666 square yards [550 sq m]) more often than in small or large
gaps [
30].