“…SWC is affected by land-use type and pasture management, which control plant canopy cover, leaf area, plant evaporation and community composition (Cooper et al, 2006;Chen et al, 2008Chen et al, , 2010Huang et al, 2013). Due to intensive livestock and agricultural use, the Hexi corridor region faces the consequences of widespread vegetation and soil degradation, such as lower grass yields, grassland desertification, lower carrying capacity, and loss of nutrients via wind erosion during the recent several decades (Li et al, 2009a;Pan and Chao, 2003). Meanwhile, the arid ecosystem is defined by an arid-fed environment and high rates of potential evapotranspiration (Collins et al, 2008).…”