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Systematic Review

Asynchronous Responses of Plants, Soils, and Microbes to Snow Cover Change Across Terrestrial Ecosystems: A Global Meta-Analysis

Pratacultural College, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Plants 2025, 14(20), 3172; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14203172 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 8 August 2025 / Revised: 17 September 2025 / Accepted: 30 September 2025 / Published: 15 October 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant-Soil Interaction Response to Global Change—2nd Edition)

Abstract

Snow cover, as a critical component of the global climate system, strongly influences ecological processes in cold and temperate regions. However, how different ecosystem components—plants, soils, and microbes—respond to snow cover change remains poorly understood, especially in terms of their coordination. Here, we conducted a global meta-analysis of 1986 single and 1047 paired observations from snow manipulation experiments across diverse terrestrial ecosystems. Our results showed that snow removal generally reduced SWC and microbial diversity, whereas snow addition exerted smaller or more variable influences across ecosystem components. Among all variables, the effect of snow cover change on soil water content was most pronounced, whereas its impacts on other factors were generally weak. Notably, the direction and magnitude of responses often differed among ecosystem components exposed to the same treatments. Pairwise comparisons revealed frequent mismatches between plant and soil organism responses, indicating substantial ecosystem-level decoupling across biomes. These findings support the ecosystem asynchrony hypothesis and highlight the need for integrated approaches that link aboveground and belowground processes. Our study improves the understanding of ecosystem stability under changing snow regimes and provides insights for predicting future terrestrial responses to global climate change.
Keywords: snow cover; plant–soil interactions; microbial response; ecosystem coupling; meta-analysis snow cover; plant–soil interactions; microbial response; ecosystem coupling; meta-analysis

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Shi, Y.; Zhang, Y.; Hong, X.; Liu, X. Asynchronous Responses of Plants, Soils, and Microbes to Snow Cover Change Across Terrestrial Ecosystems: A Global Meta-Analysis. Plants 2025, 14, 3172. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14203172

AMA Style

Shi Y, Zhang Y, Hong X, Liu X. Asynchronous Responses of Plants, Soils, and Microbes to Snow Cover Change Across Terrestrial Ecosystems: A Global Meta-Analysis. Plants. 2025; 14(20):3172. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14203172

Chicago/Turabian Style

Shi, Yafei, Yuning Zhang, Xing Hong, and Xiaoni Liu. 2025. "Asynchronous Responses of Plants, Soils, and Microbes to Snow Cover Change Across Terrestrial Ecosystems: A Global Meta-Analysis" Plants 14, no. 20: 3172. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14203172

APA Style

Shi, Y., Zhang, Y., Hong, X., & Liu, X. (2025). Asynchronous Responses of Plants, Soils, and Microbes to Snow Cover Change Across Terrestrial Ecosystems: A Global Meta-Analysis. Plants, 14(20), 3172. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14203172

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