special issues [14–16] and several booklets [17]. Nevertheless, the collective visibility of this group of scientists and institutional partners is relatively low internationally, since most publication credits are given to individuals, to their laboratories,
or to their research institutions. Moreover, the names of these laboratories and
institutions have also evolved over time, making the recognition of this collective
effort even more difficult. This book provides the opportunity to present a selection
of some of the most salient results of the programme, obtained within the framework
of our current socioecological approach of relevant environmental issues in the Seine
River basin. Most of the results will be presented as trajectories that relate environmental changes and societal changes. A number of the trajectories identified within
the Seine basin will be presented in Sect. 3 of this chapter.
These studies of socioecological systems are by nature interdisciplinary; the
proposed conceptual frameworks such as material flow analysis (MFA) [18, 19],
the driver-pressure-state-impact-response (DPSIR) concept recommended by the
European Environment Agency [20–22], the human-environment systems (HES)
framework [23], or the social-ecological systems framework (SESF) [24] are means
of structuring this research or proposing a common language for the different
disciplinary components used to analyse the complexity of these humanenvironmental relationships, with each of the methods having its objectives and
limitations [25]. These approaches are increasingly present within the PIREN-Seine,
which has been included in the Zone Atelier Seine (ZA Seine) and the Long-Term
Socio-Economic and Ecosystem Research (LTSER) programmes, as presented in
Sect. 4 of this chapter. The spatial and temporal scales of the trajectories described in
the following 14 chapters are presented at the end of this introduction.
2 Multiple and Heavy Pressures on the Seine River System
In a basin like that of the Seine River which has long been populated, deforested, and
industrialized and where the large urban conurbation of Paris and highly productive
agriculture areas coexist, human control of the system, its water, and the material
fluxes often exceeds natural controls. This makes the Seine River system a case
study in which complex interactions between societal and biophysical processes can
be examined. The next subsections summarize the present situation in terms of land
use, water use, as well as human pressures and their dynamics since the beginning of
the twentieth century.
2.1 The Hydrological Features of the Seine River Basin
The Seine River basin extends over 76,000 km
2 , of which 65,000 km
2 are upstream
of its estuary, with the outlet of the basin located at Poses (Fig. 1). It lies 97% within
the sedimentary Paris basin, the largest groundwater reservoir in Europe (Triassic to
4
N. Flipo et al.
or to their research institutions. Moreover, the names of these laboratories and
institutions have also evolved over time, making the recognition of this collective
effort even more difficult. This book provides the opportunity to present a selection
of some of the most salient results of the programme, obtained within the framework
of our current socioecological approach of relevant environmental issues in the Seine
River basin. Most of the results will be presented as trajectories that relate environmental changes and societal changes. A number of the trajectories identified within
the Seine basin will be presented in Sect. 3 of this chapter.
These studies of socioecological systems are by nature interdisciplinary; the
proposed conceptual frameworks such as material flow analysis (MFA) [18, 19],
the driver-pressure-state-impact-response (DPSIR) concept recommended by the
European Environment Agency [20–22], the human-environment systems (HES)
framework [23], or the social-ecological systems framework (SESF) [24] are means
of structuring this research or proposing a common language for the different
disciplinary components used to analyse the complexity of these humanenvironmental relationships, with each of the methods having its objectives and
limitations [25]. These approaches are increasingly present within the PIREN-Seine,
which has been included in the Zone Atelier Seine (ZA Seine) and the Long-Term
Socio-Economic and Ecosystem Research (LTSER) programmes, as presented in
Sect. 4 of this chapter. The spatial and temporal scales of the trajectories described in
the following 14 chapters are presented at the end of this introduction.
2 Multiple and Heavy Pressures on the Seine River System
In a basin like that of the Seine River which has long been populated, deforested, and
industrialized and where the large urban conurbation of Paris and highly productive
agriculture areas coexist, human control of the system, its water, and the material
fluxes often exceeds natural controls. This makes the Seine River system a case
study in which complex interactions between societal and biophysical processes can
be examined. The next subsections summarize the present situation in terms of land
use, water use, as well as human pressures and their dynamics since the beginning of
the twentieth century.
2.1 The Hydrological Features of the Seine River Basin
The Seine River basin extends over 76,000 km
2 , of which 65,000 km
2 are upstream
of its estuary, with the outlet of the basin located at Poses (Fig. 1). It lies 97% within
the sedimentary Paris basin, the largest groundwater reservoir in Europe (Triassic to
4
N. Flipo et al.