Authors: Rixen, Christian; Høye, Toke Thomas; Macek, Petr; Aerts, Rien; Alatalo, Juha M.; Anderson, Jill T.; Arnold, Pieter A.; Barrio, Isabel C; Bjerke, Jarle W.; Björkman, Mats P.; Blok, Daan; Blume-Werry, Gesche; Boike, Julia; Bokhorst, Stef; Carbognani, Michele; Christiansen, Casper T.; Convey, Peter; Cooper, Elisabeth J.; Cornelissen, J. Hans C.; Coulson, Stephen J.; Dorrepaal, Ellen; Elberling, Bo; Elmendorf, Sarah C.; Elphinstone, Cassandra; Forte, T’ai G.w.; Frei, Esther R.; Geange, Sonya R.; Gehrmann, Friederike; Gibson, Casey; Grogan, Paul; Halbritter, Aud Helen; Harte, John; Henry, Gregory H.R.; Inouye, David W.; Irwin, Rebecca E.; Jespersen, Gus; Jónsdóttir, Ingibjörg Svala; Jung, Ji Young; Klinges, David H.; Kudo, Gaku; Lämsä, Juho; Lee, Hanna; Lembrechts, Jonas J.; Lett, Signe; Lynn, Joshua Scott; Mann, Hjalte M.R.; Mastepanov, Mikhail; Morse, Jennifer; Myers-smith, Isla H.; Olofsson, Johan; Paavola, Riku; Petraglia, Alessandro; Phoenix, Gareth K.; Semenchuk, Philipp; Siewert, Matthias B.; Slatyer, Rachel; Spasojevic, Marko J.; Suding, Katharine; Sullivan, Patrick; Thompson, Kimberly L.; Väisänen, Maria; Vandvik, Vigdis; Venn, Susanna; Walz, Josefine; Way, Robert; Welker, Jeffrey M.; Wipf, Sonja; Zong, Shengwei

Venue: Arctic Science

Type: Publication

Abstract: Snow is an important driver of ecosystem processes in cold biomes. Snow accumulation determines ground temperature, light conditions, and moisture availability during winter. It also affects the growing season’s start and end, and plant access to moisture and nutrients. Here, we review the current knowledge of the snow cover’s role for vegetation, plant-animal interactions, permafrost conditions, microbial processes, and biogeochemical cycling. We also compare studies of natural snow gradients with snow experimental manipulation studies to ... (read more)

DOI: 10.1139/as-2020-0058