Climate-Driven Shifts in Snow Drought and Hydrological Extremes: Ecological Impacts and Resilience

Dear Colleagues,

Climate change is reshaping global precipitation patterns, with rising temperatures altering rain–snow ratios, reducing snowpack, and intensifying droughts. Snow droughts—driven by warmer conditions, declining snowfall, and earlier melt—are emerging as critical climate risks, exacerbating soil moisture deficits and disrupting ecosystems. These changes threaten water resources, biodiversity, and carbon sequestration, particularly in snow-dependent regions. Understanding the interplay between snow droughts, ecological dynamics, and climate feedbacks is urgent to inform adaptation strategies. This Special Issue explores these linkages to address gaps in predicting cascading impacts under future climate scenarios.

This Special Issue seeks research on climate-mediated snow droughts and their ecological consequences, aligning with the journal’s focus on climate–ecosystem interactions. We invite studies leveraging CMIP6 projections, long-term observations, and process-based models to quantify how snow loss amplifies soil moisture stress, alters vegetation, and triggers feedback like albedo shifts. By bridging climate science and ecology, this Special Issue aims to advance predictive frameworks and support resilience planning in vulnerable regions.

We welcome original research, reviews, and case studies addressing:

1. Climate linkages: How temperature-driven precipitation phase changes (rain vs. snow) and altered snowmelt timing exacerbate soil moisture stress.
2. Ecological cascades: Impacts on plant productivity, species composition, and carbon cycling under coupled snow drought and meteorological droughts.
3. Feedback mechanisms: Interactions between snow loss, land–atmosphere feedbacks (e.g., albedo shifts), and extreme climate events (heatwaves).

Submissions integrating multiscale data (remote sensing, in situ monitoring) or advanced techniques (e.g., deep learning) are encouraged.

Dr. Yuanfang Chai
Dr. Yunping Yang
Guest Editors

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• climate change
• snow drought
• precipitation phase shift
• soil moisture–vegetation feedback
• ecosystem
• hydrological cycling