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

The 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 (N