Effects of climate and land use changes on stream flow of Chitral river basin of northern highland Hindu-Kush region of Pakistan

Adverse impacts of climate change on the ecosystem have been a significant concern in the last decades. However, the studies related to the impacts of climate change on water resources, especially in northern Pakistan are of great importance as this region is the main supplier of freshwater to the downstream areas. So, the present study was carried out in Chitral River Basin (CRB) to investigate the long term climatic and topographic changes. Spatiotemporal datasets from MODIS Land Cover Type product (MCD12Q1) from 2001 to 2018, ground-based observational climatic and hydrological data were used. Moreover, the Mann-Kendall trend test, linear regression analysis, correlation, and Sen’s slope values for the mean annual and seasonal flows were assessed. The acquired results show that land use changes are the key non-natural factors in transforming the ecological and hydrological processes of CRB. The mixed and evergreen forest, shrubland, savannas, and barren land respectively decreased from 0.07 to 0.03%, 0.07 to 0.05%, 3.64 to 3.25%, and 70.10 to 67.17%, from 2001 to 2018. In addition, a considerable increment in snow cover from 8.79% to 10.71%, and slight increment in grasslands, wetlands, and croplands were also found between the period of observation. In addition, total annual precipitation and mean annual stream flow showed slight upward trends. Annual increment in total rainfall and snow covered area could be the possible reasons for the observed increased river flow.