Background and Aims Alterations in snow cover driv-en by climate change may impact ecosystem function-ing, including biogeochemistry and soil (microbial) processes. We elucidated the effects of snow cover manipulation (SCM) on above-and belowground pro-cesses in a temperate peatland. Methods In a Swiss mountain-peatland we manipulat-ed snow cover (addition, removal and control), and assessed the effects on Andromeda polifolia root en-zyme activity, soil microbial community structure, and leaf tissue and soil biogeochemistry. Results Reduced snow cover produced warmer soils in our experiment while increased snow cover kept soil temperatures close-to-freezing. SCM had a major influence on the microbial community, and prolonged 'close-to-freezing' temperatures caused a shift in mi-crobial communities toward fungal dominance. Soil temperature largely explained soil microbial structure, while other descriptors such as root enzyme activity and pore-water chemistry interacted less with the soil microbial communities. Conclusions We envisage that SCM-driven changes in the microbial community composition could lead Plant Soil