Abstract
Different segments of society have shown interest in understanding the effects of human activities on ecosystems. To this end, the aim of this article is to analyze the scientific literature on the application of the Drivers-Pressures-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) conceptual model to identify the parameters used to describe the causal interactions that occur between agriculture and aquatic ecosystems at the watershed scale. In this way, descriptive indicators were established for the data of 63 publications collected through Scopus, Web of Science, and Science Direct. The results confirm the great heterogeneity in the interpretation of the pressure, state, and impacts components. Part of this discrepancy can be attributed to the use of different indicators, as the model is flexible and generic. Overall, the DPSIR is a tool used not only in the scientific field, but also has demonstrated its potential to guide public policy formulation, planning, and decision-making in water resource management.
Highlights
Activities developed to meet human needs exert stress on the environment, and quantifying this stress is a complex task
It is of great importance to identify the mechanisms that are able to help in the organization and understanding of the causal interactions between society and the environment, in order to guide public decisions toward ensuring social welfare
Short-term economic rationality and ecological cycles that ensure the renewal of nature and sustainable development do not always coincide [2]
Summary
Activities developed to meet human needs exert stress on the environment, and quantifying this stress is a complex task. It is of great importance to identify the mechanisms that are able to help in the organization and understanding of the causal interactions between society and the environment, in order to guide public decisions toward ensuring social welfare. In this sense, an instrument that has demonstrated potential for the structuring of complex environmental problems resulting from the processes of the interactions that occur between society and the environment is the theoretical framework of the DPSIR (driver, pressures, state, impact, and responses) model [1]. This theoretical framework has become popular among scientists and decision makers to integrate the economic and environmental dimensions [3], and it has been used by several international reference organizations, such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Environment
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