Winter Climate Change Research Articles

Climate change in our backyards: the reshuffling of North America's winter bird communities.

Much of the recent changes in North American climate have occurred during the winter months, and as result, overwintering birds represent important sentinels of anthropogenic climate change. While there is mounting evidence that bird populations are responding to a warming climate (e.g., poleward shifts) questions remain as to whether these species-specific responses are resulting in community-wide changes. Here, we test the hypothesis that a changing winter climate should favor the formation of winter bird communities dominated by warm-adapted species. To do this, we quantified changes in community composition using a functional index--the Community Temperature Index (CTI)--which measures the balance between low- and high-temperature dwelling species in a community. Using data from Project FeederWatch, an international citizen science program, we quantified spatiotemporal changes in winter bird communities (n = 38 bird species) across eastern North America and tested the influence of changes in winter minimum temperature over a 22-year period. We implemented a jackknife analysis to identify those species most influential in driving changes at the community level and the population dynamics (e.g., extinction or colonization) responsible for these community changes. Since 1990, we found that the winter bird community structure has changed with communities increasingly composed of warm-adapted species. This reshuffling of winter bird communities was strongest in southerly latitudes and driven primarily by local increases in abundance and regional patterns of colonization by southerly birds. CTI tracked patterns of changing winter temperature at different temporal scales ranging from 1 to 35 years. We conclude that a shifting winter climate has provided an opportunity for smaller, southerly distributed species to colonize new regions and promote the formation of unique winter bird assemblages throughout eastern North America.

Response of the high‐resolution Chinese loess grain size record to the 50°N integrated winter insolation during the last 500,000 years

AbstractThe global ice volume change regulates the Earth's climate and has been characterized by 100,000 year cycles over the last 700,000 years. The Asian inland winter climate change is proposed to show primary 100,000 year cycles that mimic ice volume changes. Here we calibrate the age of a high‐resolution grain size record over the last 500,000 years with a grain size age model. The results show a primary 41,000 year cycle and a weaker 100,000 year cycle during the last ~ 500,000 years. We suggest that the primary 41,000 year cycle in the grain size record can be ascribed to the 50°N integrated winter insolation. Our findings suggest that ice volume changes have a limited effect on the Asian inland winter climate. Asian continental winter climate changes respond to the 50°N integrated winter insolation in addition to ice volume changes.

Northern winter climate change: Assessment of uncertainty in CMIP5 projections related to stratosphere-troposphere coupling

Future changes in the stratospheric circulation could have an important impact on northern winter tropospheric climate change, given that sea level pressure (SLP) responds not only to tropospheric circulation variations but also to vertically coherent variations in troposphere-stratosphere circulation. Here we assess northern winter stratospheric change and its potential to influence surface climate change in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project-Phase 5 (CMIP5) multimodel ensemble. In the stratosphere at high latitudes, an easterly change in zonally averaged zonal wind is found for the majority of the CMIP5 models, under the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 scenario. Comparable results are also found in the 1% CO2 increase per year projections, indicating that the stratospheric easterly change is common feature in future climate projections. This stratospheric wind change, however, shows a significant spread among the models. By using linear regression, we quantify the impact of tropical upper troposphere warming, polar amplification, and the stratospheric wind change on SLP. We find that the intermodel spread in stratospheric wind change contributes substantially to the intermodel spread in Arctic SLP change. The role of the stratosphere in determining part of the spread in SLP change is supported by the fact that the SLP change lags the stratospheric zonally averaged wind change. Taken together, these findings provide further support for the importance of simulating the coupling between the stratosphere and the troposphere, to narrow the uncertainty in the future projection of tropospheric circulation changes.

Individual variation in amphibian metabolic rates during overwintering: implications for a warming world

AbstractMetabolic rates (MRs) vary consistently among individuals within a population, providing raw material for natural selection. Although individual energy demands may play an increasingly important role for ectotherm survival under warmer and more variable winter conditions, whether individual variation in MRs persists during overwintering is virtually unknown. Here, we repeatedly measured MR in wintering Alpine newts Ichthyosaura alpestris to (1) confirm the consistent individual variation in this trait; (2) test whether the individual differences in MR affect body mass loss during overwintering. The individual identity of newts explained 72% of variation in mass‐and‐activity‐corrected MR. Newts with a high MR lost a higher proportion of their initial body mass than individuals with lower metabolic demands. We conclude that the consistent individual variation in MR during overwintering is an important predictor of spring body condition in newts. This provides a new perspective on intraindividual variation in MRs as a mediator of winter climate change on the dynamics of ectotherm populations.

Winter climate change affects growing‐season soil microbial biomass and activity in northern hardwood forests

Understanding the responses of terrestrial ecosystems to global change remains a major challenge of ecological research. We exploited a natural elevation gradient in a northern hardwood forest to determine how reductions in snow accumulation, expected with climate change, directly affect dynamics of soil winter frost, and indirectly soil microbial biomass and activity during the growing season. Soils from lower elevation plots, which accumulated less snow and experienced more soil temperature variability during the winter (and likely more freeze/thaw events), had less extractable inorganic nitrogen (N), lower rates of microbial N production via potential net N mineralization and nitrification, and higher potential microbial respiration during the growing season. Potential nitrate production rates during the growing season were particularly sensitive to changes in winter snow pack accumulation and winter soil temperature variability, especially in spring. Effects of elevation and winter conditions on N transformation rates differed from those on potential microbial respiration, suggesting that N-related processes might respond differently to winter climate change in northern hardwood forests than C-related processes.

Cold truths: how winter drives responses of terrestrial organisms to climate change

Winter is a key driver of individual performance, community composition, and ecological interactions in terrestrial habitats. Although climate change research tends to focus on performance in the growing season, climate change is also modifying winter conditions rapidly. Changes to winter temperatures, the variability of winter conditions, and winter snow cover can interact to induce cold injury, alter energy and water balance, advance or retard phenology, and modify community interactions. Species vary in their susceptibility to these winter drivers, hampering efforts to predict biological responses to climate change. Existing frameworks for predicting the impacts of climate change do not incorporate the complexity of organismal responses to winter. Here, we synthesise organismal responses to winter climate change, and use this synthesis to build a framework to predict exposure and sensitivity to negative impacts. This framework can be used to estimate the vulnerability of species to winter climate change. We describe the importance of relationships between winter conditions and performance during the growing season in determining fitness, and demonstrate how summer and winter processes are linked. Incorporating winter into current models will require concerted effort from theoreticians and empiricists, and the expansion of current growing-season studies to incorporate winter.

Dampening prey cycle overrides the impact of climate change on predator population dynamics: a long‐term demographic study on tawny owls

Predicting the dynamics of animal populations with different life histories requires careful understanding of demographic responses to multifaceted aspects of global changes, such as climate and trophic interactions. Continent-scale dampening of vole population cycles, keystone herbivores in many ecosystems, has been recently documented across Europe. However, its impact on guilds of vole-eating predators remains unknown. To quantify this impact, we used a 27-year study of an avian predator (tawny owl) and its main prey (field vole) collected in Kielder Forest (UK) where vole dynamics shifted from a high- to a low-amplitude fluctuation regime in the mid-1990s. We measured the functional responses of four demographic rates to changes in prey dynamics and winter climate, characterized by wintertime North Atlantic Oscillation (wNAO). First-year and adult survival were positively affected by vole density in autumn but relatively insensitive to wNAO. The probability of breeding and number of fledglings were higher in years with high spring vole densities and negative wNAO (i.e. colder and drier winters). These functional responses were incorporated into a stochastic population model. The size of the predator population was projected under scenarios combining prey dynamics and winter climate to test whether climate buffers or alternatively magnifies the impact of changes in prey dynamics. We found the observed dampening vole cycles, characterized by low spring densities, drastically reduced the breeding probability of predators. Our results illustrate that (i) change in trophic interactions can override direct climate change effect; and (ii) the demographic resilience entailed by longevity and the occurrence of a floater stage may be insufficient to buffer hypothesized environmental changes. Ultimately, dampened prey cycles would drive our owl local population towards extinction, with winter climate regimes only altering persistence time. These results suggest that other vole-eating predators are likely to be threatened by dampening vole cycles throughout Europe.

Effects of freeze–thaw cycles resulting from winter climate change on soil nitrogen cycling in ten temperate forest ecosystems throughout the Japanese archipelago

In temperate forest ecosystems, accelerated freeze–thaw cycles caused by winter climate change are expected to affect nitrogen (N) cycling in soils. Net N mineralization and nitrification rates were investigated via incubations of sieved soils transplanted from ten temperate forest ecosystems to two northern Japan sites with natural snowfall gradients. This was done to address: 1) how freeze–thaw cycles affect N mineralization and nitrification in temperate forest soils; 2) whether freeze–thaw cycles change the soil N transformation rates in the following growing season; and 3) which soil characteristics affect the response of the N transformation rates to freeze–thaw cycles. The effect of freeze–thaw cycles on inorganic N and dissolved organic carbon productions differed among soils, that is, some soils produced more inorganic N and dissolved organic carbon in the conditions imposed by freeze thaw cycles than in the non-frozen treatment but the others did not. The response to the freeze–thaw cycles was explained by soil microbial activity (gross N mineralization and nitrification rate) and soil fertility (inorganic N pools in the early spring and water soluble ions). Freeze–thaw cycles significantly increased N transformation rates in the following growing season, suggesting that winter climate change might also affect nutrient availability for vegetation and soil microbes in the growing season. The magnitude and frequency of freeze–thaw cycles were considered to be important indicators of N transformation rates during the growing season, suggesting that the higher intensity of freeze–thaw cycles in the original locations of soils changed the microbial communities and functions with high tolerance to freeze–thaw cycles; this resulted in greater N transformation rates in the following growing season. Microbial activity, soil fertility and climate patterns in the original locations of soils are believed to have an effect on the response to winter climate change and to cause large variability of soil response of N transformation rates to freeze–thaw cycles in both the dormant and growing seasons.

Increased nitrogen leaching following soil freezing is due to decreased root uptake in a northern hardwood forest

The depth and duration of snow pack is declining in the northeastern United States as a result of warming air temperatures. Since snow insulates soil, a decreased snow pack can increase the frequency of soil freezing, which has been shown to have important biogeochemical implications. One of the most notable effects of soil freezing is increased inorganic nitrogen losses from soil during the following growing season. Decreased nitrogen retention is thought to be due to reduced root uptake, but has not yet been measured directly. We conducted a 2-year snow-removal experiment at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire, USA to determine the effects of soil freezing on root uptake and leaching of inorganic nitrogen simultaneously. Snow removal significantly increased the depth of maximal soil frost by 37.2 and 39.5 cm in the first and second winters, respectively (P < 0.001 in 2008/2009 and 2009/2010). As a consequence of soil freezing, root uptake of ammonium declined significantly during the first and second growing seasons after snow removal (P = 0.023 for 2009 and P = 0.005 for 2010). These observed reductions in root nitrogen uptake coincided with significant increases in soil solution concentrations of ammonium in the Oa horizon (P = 0.001 for 2009 and 2010) and nitrate in the B horizon (P < 0.001 and P = 0.003 for 2009 and 2010, respectively). The excess flux of dissolved inorganic nitrogen from the Oa horizon that was attributable to soil freezing was 7.0 and 2.8 kg N ha(-1) in 2009 and 2010, respectively. The excess flux of dissolved inorganic nitrogen from the B horizon was lower, amounting to 1.7 and 0.7 kg N ha(-1) in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Results of this study provide direct evidence that soil freezing reduces root nitrogen uptake, demonstrating that the effects of winter climate change on root function has significant consequences for nitrogen retention and loss in forest ecosystems.

Ecophysiological characteristics of leaves and fine roots in dominant tree species in a subalpine coniferous forest of western Sichuan during seasonal frozen soil period

Aims There is an obvious seasonal freezing and thawing process (early winter freezing-thawing, late winter freezing, and early spring freezing-thawing) in the subalpine coniferous forests, where there is also a strong effect of climate change in winter. Hence, global warming will likely affect the seasonal freezing and thawing process in this area. Our objective was to determine the ecophysiological characteristics of leaves and fine roots in dominant tree species in a subalpine coniferous forest of western Sichuan during seasonal frozen soil period, in order to improve our understanding of the ecological processes in subalpine coniferous forests. Methods We analyzed the changes in malondialdehyde (MDA) content, osmoregulation substance content, tissue water content, peroxidase (POD) activity, and nitrate reductase (NR) activity in leaves and fine roots of Picea asperata and Abies fargesii var. faxoniana seedlings, and measured specific root length, specific surface area, diameter and tissue density of fine roots over the course of the seasonal frozen soil period. Important findings The POD activity and the contents of proline and soluble proteins in leaves were significantly lower than in fine roots, despite that the daily fluctuations of soil temperature was less than that of air temperature during the seasonal frozen soil period, suggesting that fine roots were more susceptible to the seasonal frozen soil than leaves. In comparison with the soil freezing period, a greater daily fluctuations of air and soil temperature resulted in an increase in the soluble sugar content in leaves of P. asperata and the POD activity and 344 植物生态学报 Chinese Journal of Plant Ecology 2014, 38 (4): 343–354 www.plant-ecology.com proline content in leaves of the two species during the soil freezing-thawing period, whereas the tissue water content was significantly decreased and the contents of proline, soluble proteins and soluble sugars were significantly increased in fine roots, indicating that the effects of soil freezing-thawing on plants were stronger than soil freezing. In soil freezing-thawing period, the POD activity and osmolyte contents were significantly increased in both A. fargesii var. faxoniana and P. asperata, but changes in the MDA content and the NR activity in the fine roots and leaves were not consistent in the two species. In A. fargesii var. faxoniana, the MDA content was significantly increased in fine roots and the NR activity was significantly reduced in both leaves and fine roots. A change in the MDA content was only observed in leaves of P. asperata, which was significantly decreased, indicating that P. asperata had more tolerance to soil freeze-thaw cycles. Moreover, no significant changes in fine root morphology and growth were observed during the seasonal frozen soil period.

Winter climate change in plant–soil systems: summary of recent findings and future perspectives

AbstractThe winter climate is changing in many parts of the world, and it is predicted that winter climate change will modify the structure and function of plant–soil systems. An understanding of these changes and their consequences in terrestrial ecosystems requires knowledge of the linkage between above‐ and below‐ground components as well as the species interactions found in plant–soil systems, which have important implications for biogeochemical cycles. However, winter climate‐change studies have focused on only a part of the ecosystem or ecological process. We summarize here recent findings related to the effects of winter climate and its changes on soil nitrogen (N) dynamics, greenhouse gas (N2O) emissions from the soil, N use by individual plants, vegetation development, and interactions between vegetation and pollinators to generate an integrative understanding of the response of the plant–soil system to winter climate change. This review indicates that the net effects on plants, soil microbes, pollinators, and the associated biogeochemical cycles are balanced among several processes and are highly variable depending on the context, such as the target species/functional group, original winter condition of the habitat, and type of climate change. The consequences of winter climate change for species interactions among plants, associated animals, and biogeochemical cycles are largely unknown. For further research, a large‐scale comparative study to measure ecosystem‐level functions is important, especially in less‐cold ecosystems.

Winter climate change, plant traits and nutrient and carbon cycling in cold biomes

It is essential that scientists be able to predict how strong climate warming, including profound changes to winter climate, will affect the ecosystem services of alpine, arctic and boreal areas, and how these services are driven by vegetation–soil feedbacks. One fruitful avenue for studying such changing feedbacks is through plant functional traits, as an understanding of these traits may help us to understand and synthesise (1) responses of vegetation (through ‘response traits’ and ‘specific response functions’ of each species) to winter climate and (2) the effects of changing vegetation composition (through ‘effect traits’ and ‘specific effect functions’ of each species) on soil functions. It is the relative correspondence of variation in response and effect traits that will provide useful data on the impacts of winter climate change on carbon and nutrient cycling processes. Here we discuss several examples of how the trait-based, response–effect framework can help scientists to better understand the effects of winter warming on key ecosystem functions in cold biomes. These examples support the view that measuring species for their response and effect traits, and how these traits are linked across species through correspondence of variation in specific response and effects functions, may be a useful approach for teasing out the contribution of changing vegetation composition to winter warming effects on ecosystem functions. This approach will be particularly useful when linked with ecosystem-level measurements of vegetation and process responses to winter warming along natural gradients, over medium time scales in given sites or in response to experimental climate manipulations.

Perception of the effects of climate change in winter and summer tourist areas: the Pyrenees and the Catalan and Balearic coasts, Spain

In this study, we compare the perception of climate change in two different tourist settings of northeastern Spain: the Catalan Pyrenees and the Catalan Mediterranean coast and the Balearic Islands. We carried out a survey of 906 cases (506 in the coastal areas of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands and 400 in the Catalan Pyrenees) asking residents on those areas to assess the possible effects of climate change on tourist-related activities. While the existence of climate change and of its estimated impacts is widely accepted, we observe statistically significant differences in most of the questions between residents in the coastal areas and residents in the Pyrenees. In general terms, respondents from the Pyrenees display a much higher concern regarding the economic impacts of climate change on tourism. On the other hand, the results also show that some demographic groups, such as women, members of large households, or unemployed, tend to present higher levels of concern. This study may give new hints on which tourist modalities and which groups are more concerned for the impacts of climate change in Mediterranean tourist environments and could translate into more targeted adaptive and mitigation practices.

Ecological consequences through responses of plant and soil communities to changing winter climate

AbstractCommunity processes are now undergoing substantial reconfiguration because of climate change. Although the effects of climate change on ecosystems are currently a major concern, the issues tightly associated with winter climate change have been underrepresented. Given the importance of winter climate variables and events for determining the spatial distribution of communities and their phenological and physiological responses, and the functional roles of each species, all of which are expected to substantially influence community dis/re‐assemble in the future, this review focuses on the ecological responses and consequences of terrestrial communities to changing winter climate. In particular, the effects on processes supported by biological interactions are largely undetermined. In this context, focusing on plant–soil feedback as a major interactive multi‐system is worthwhile; these interactions can be disentangled through careful evaluation of the functional roles of organisms involved in the feedback (i.e., plants and soil organisms). The underlying mechanisms are indeed complex because direct (i.e., changes in physical conditions) and indirect pathways (i.e., plant‐mediated influences on soil‐organisms and vice versa) from winter climate change influence the functionality of future ecosystems. To face these issues, the framework of response–effect‐traits deserves research priority since this can define community re‐organization as the accumulated responses of individual species, which determines the stability and performance of ecosystem functioning. Thus, research that quantifies functional responses and roles of organisms under a changing climate will continue to be essential for the issues of winter climate change, which may become more serious and significant in the near future.

Can winter-active bumblebees survive the cold? Assessing the cold tolerance of Bombus terrestris audax and the effects of pollen feeding.

There is now considerable evidence that climate change is disrupting the phenology of key pollinator species. The recently reported UK winter activity of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris brings a novel set of thermal challenges to bumblebee workers that would typically only be exposed to summer conditions. Here we assess the ability of workers to survive acute and chronic cold stress (via lower lethal temperatures and lower lethal times at 0°C), the capacity for rapid cold hardening (RCH) and the influence of diet (pollen versus nectar consumption) on supercooling points (SCP). Comparisons are made with chronic cold stress indices and SCPs in queen bumblebees. Results showed worker bees were able to survive acute temperatures likely to be experienced in a mild winter, with queens significantly more tolerant to chronic cold temperature stress. The first evidence of RCH in any Hymenoptera is shown. In addition, dietary manipulation indicated the consumption of pollen significantly increased SCP temperature. These results are discussed in the light of winter active bumblebees and climate change.

권역별 난방에너지 요구량 분석을 통한 단열기준 개선방안

The effect of climate change has influenced humanity and ecosystem with tremendous changes in temperature. For the past 150 years, the national annual average temperature is 0.6 degree increased and the heating degree day reduced from April to November. However, December to January, the climate change was generated and the heating degree day increased. The blackout occured in 2011 and 2012 by increasing electricity consumption of heating and cooling equipment to the effects of climate change. That is because heating load accounted for 20% of building electric use. In this study, strengthening measures to reduce heating energy consumption is presented due to climate change in winter since 1980 to prevent blackout and reliable power supply for the building energy-saving design standards by Meteorological data provided by the National Weather Service were calculated using the heating degree days in order to present eighteen cities from 1980 to 2012. Insulation standards are presented to prevent black-out by the heating degree days. the heating energy demand was reduced almost 6% including 10% in Central, 5% in South and Jeju area based on strengthening of the insulation. It is applied to the entire country an annual economic effect of 250 billion won, and black-out can be prevented.

Impact of snowpack decrease on net nitrogen mineralization and nitrification in forest soil of northern Japan

Winter climate change is an important environmental driver that alters the biogeochemical processes of forest soils. The decrease in snowpack amplifies soil freeze–thaw cycles and decreases the snowmelt water supply to soil. This study examined how snow decrease affects nitrogen (N) mineralization and nitrification in forest soil in northern Japan by conducting an in situ experimental snowpack manipulation experiment and a laboratory incubation of soil with different moisture, temperature and freeze–thaw magnitudes. For the incubation studies, surface mineral soil (0–10 cm) was collected from a cool-temperate natural mixed forest and incubated using the resin core method during the winter. In the field, there were two treatments: 50 and 100 % snow removal and control plots. The increase in the soil freeze–thaw cycle increased net N mineralization and marginally decreased the net nitrification in soil. The dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and DOC/DON ratio in soil increased with the decrease in snowpack especially during the snow melt period. These results suggested that the change in substrate quality by the increase in freeze–thaw cycles caused the significant enhancement of microbial ammonium production in soil. The lower soil moisture and higher gross immobilization of inorganic N by soil microbes may be maintaining the slow net nitrification and low nitrate leaching in freeze–thaw cycles with less snowpack. The results indicate that winter climate change would strongly impact N biogeochemistry through the increase in ammonium availability in soil for plants and microbes, whereas it would be unlikely that nitrate loss from surface soil would be enhanced.

Winter climate change effects on soil C and N cycles in urban grasslands

Despite growing recognition of the role that cities have in global biogeochemical cycles, urban systems are among the least understood of all ecosystems. Urban grasslands are expanding rapidly along with urbanization, which is expected to increase at unprecedented rates in upcoming decades. The large and increasing area of urban grasslands and their impact on water and air quality justify the need for a better understanding of their biogeochemical cycles. There is also great uncertainty about the effect that climate change, especially changes in winter snow cover, will have on nutrient cycles in urban grasslands. We aimed to evaluate how reduced snow accumulation directly affects winter soil frost dynamics, and indirectly greenhouse gas fluxes and the processing of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) during the subsequent growing season in northern urban grasslands. Both artificial and natural snow reduction increased winter soil frost, affecting winter microbial C and N processing, accelerating C and N cycles and increasing soil:atmosphere greenhouse gas exchange during the subsequent growing season. With lower snow accumulations that are predicted with climate change, we found decreases in N retention in these ecosystems, and increases in N2 O and CO2 flux to the atmosphere, significantly increasing the global warming potential of urban grasslands. Our results suggest that the environmental impacts of these rapidly expanding ecosystems are likely to increase as climate change brings milder winters and more extensive soil frost.

Sources of nitrate export during rain-on-snow events at forested catchments

Rain-on-snow (ROS) events are major drivers of nitrate (NO3-N) export from seasonally snow-covered forested catchments and may cause episodic declines in stream pH. High intensity monitoring of throughfall, snow pack and stream water draining two proximal catchments (Harp 3A and Harp 6A) with very different NO3-N export revealed that a very small percentage of ROS-induced stream discharge originates from throughfall and melting snow (new water; average = 6.4 %). However, this new water has a very high concentration of NO3-N (throughfall/snowmelt average = 498 μg/L) compared with baseflow (average = 7.3 μg/L in Harp 6A; average = 41 μg/L in Harp 3A) and as a result, throughfall and snowmelt contribute the majority of NO3-N export (average = 62 %) during ROS events. In contrast, concentrations of sulphate, dissolved organic carbon and calcium in rain and snowpack are similar to baseflow and therefore ROS-induced declines in pH (often to below pH 6.0) are attributed entirely to increases in NO3-N concentration. Differences in absolute magnitude of ROS NO3-N export between catchments are explained through differences in baseflow NO3-N concentrations. The frequency and magnitude of ROS events in this region are affected by both NO3-N deposition and winter temperature, and thus the impact of these events in the future depends on changes in both atmospheric deposition and winter climate.

Reduction in snow depth negatively affects decomposers but impact on decomposition rates is substrate dependent

Decomposition of organic matter in high latitude biomes makes a significant contribution to global fluxes of nutrients and carbon and is expected to accelerate due to climate change. The majority of studies have focused on decomposition during the growing season, but winter climate is expected to change dramatically. Furthermore, knowledge of the drivers of organic matter decomposition, such as litter chemical composition, has primarily been tested across the growing season so it is unknown whether these drivers are also important during the winter. Given that the depth of snow cover insulates the sub-nivean climate from the much colder air, it is an important control on winter decomposition and is expected to be influenced by climate change, we experimentally manipulated snow cover to simulate impacts of different winter precipitation scenarios on soil processes. Our results show that despite snow reduction negatively affecting decomposer abundance (by 99%) and bulk soil respiration (by 47%), litter decomposition rates showed little to no response. Furthermore, variation in winter decomposition rates among litter types was unrelated to nutrient status, indicating that our current understanding of drivers of litter decomposition may not hold during winter months. Despite very large reductions in decomposer fauna due to snow removal, litter decomposition rates were not consistently responsive, indicative of decoupled responses of soil organisms and soil processes to winter climate change.