Abstract
The effects of land-use change on river flows have usually been explained by changes within a river basin. However, land-atmosphere feedback such as moisture recycling can link local land-use change to modifications of remote precipitation, with further knock-on effects on distant river flows. Here, we look at river flow changes caused by both land-use change and water use within the basin, as well as modifications of imported and exported atmospheric moisture. We show that in some of the world's largest basins, precipitation was influenced more strongly by land-use change occurring outside than inside the basin. Moreover, river flows in several non-transboundary basins were considerably regulated by land-use changes in foreign countries. We conclude that regional patterns of land-use change and moisture recycling are important to consider in explaining runoff change, integrating land and water management, and informing water governance.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 4311-4328 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Journal | Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 15 Aug 2018 |
Funding
Acknowledgements. We thank Victor Galaz, Chandrakant Singh, and two anonymous reviewers for providing feedback on the manuscript. Lan Wang-Erlandsson, Patrick W. Keys, and Line J. Gordon, are funded by the Swedish Research Council Formas (grant no. 1364115). Lan Wang-Erlandsson is also funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). Ruud J. van der Ent received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013, grant agreement no. 603608). Ingo Fetzer receives financial support from the Stordalen Foundation. Ingo Fetzer and Line J. Gordon are also supported by the Swedish foundation for strategic environmental research (MISTRA).
