The runoff changes are controlled by combined effects of multiple regional environmental factors in the alpine hilly region of Northwest China.

The imbalance between the water supply and demand in arid and semiarid regions is becoming increasingly serious due to global warming and human activities. It is of great significance to reveal the variation characteristics of runoff and its main controlling factors for the sustainable management of regional water resources. However, few previous studies have considered the integrated effects of multiple control factors on runoff variation at different periodic scales.