Arnaiz Schmitz, CeciliaSchmitz García, María FeHerrero Jaúregui, CristinaGutíerrez Angonese, J.Díaz Pineda, FranciscoMontes, C.2023-06-172023-06-172018-01-150048-9697, ESSN: 1879-102610.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.08.215https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/12079Socio-ecological systems maintain reciprocal interactions between biophysical and socioeconomic structures. As a result of these interactions key essential services for society emerge. Urban expansion is a direct driver of land change and cause serious shifts in socio-ecological relationships and the associated lifestyles. The framework of rural-urban gradients has proved to be a powerful tool for ecological research about urban influences on ecosystems and on sociological issues related to social welfare. However, to date there has not been an attempt to achieve a classification of municipalities in rural-urban gradients based on socio-ecological interactions. In this paper, we developed a methodological approach that allows identifying and classifying a set of socio-ecological network configurations in the Region of Madrid, a highly dynamic cultural landscape considered one of the European hotspots in urban development. According to their socio-ecological links, the integrated model detects four groups of municipalities, ordered along a rural-urban gradient, characterized by their degree of biophysical and socioeconomic coupling and different indicators of landscape structure and social welfare. We propose the developed model as a useful tool to improve environmental management schemes and land planning from a socio-ecological perspective, especially in territories subject to intense urban transformations and loss of rurality.engjournal articlehttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969717322106restricted access574(460.27)502.1(460.27)Social welfareMadrid regionMultivariate analysisLandscape metricsSocioeconomic structureSocio-ecological couplingEcología (Biología)Medio ambiente natural2401.06 Ecología animal