The variability of soil thermal and hydrological dynamics with vegetation cover in a permafrost region

► Active soil water and temperature dynamics were altered by changes in the vegetation cover of alpine grasslands. ► Changes in vegetation cover had reciprocal effects on soil thermal and water dynamics in alpine swamps and meadows. ► Higher vegetation cover reduced the annual variation of soil moisture and temperature. ► Soil water-heat coupling in areas with different amounts of vegetation cover followed a Boltzmann function. ► The impacts of vegetation cover on DT varied by season and grassland type.