Research on the effects of grassland degradation on soil water conservation in the Sanjiangyuan region of China is essential as it can provide a scientific basis for evaluating and monitoring water conservation in this important water conservation area. Its regional strategic position is extremely important as 1. 2% of the total water in the Yangtze River, 40% of the total water in the Yellow River, and 15% of the total water in the Lancang River comes from this area. As a result of climate change and human activity, grassland degradation had been more severe in the Sanjiangyuan region since the 1970s. Rangeland degradation not only impacts vegetation, it can also have great effects on soil physical and chemical properties. Changes to the physical and chemical properties of soil can subsequently affect the efficiency of soil water conservation. The vegetation in this region is dominated by grassland. In grassland ecosystems 99% of water conservation capacity comes from the capacity of soil to retain water. While soil water conservation efficiency is influenced by many factors such as vegetation type, land use and land cover, studies have shown that water yield in this region has decreased year by year and that water conservation capacity has declined sharply. These findings show that further studies exploring
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