During urban expansion, soil gets covered by roads, buildings, and parking lots, a process called “soil sealing.” It reduces the soil’s ability to support plant growth, filter water, and provide habitat.

Between 2001 and 2021, as Wisconsin’s population grew by almost 10%, soil sealing increased by 20%, according to a recent study from the Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences. On average, the study finds, 17 acres of soil were sealed each day, with 30 acres per day converted to urban land cover. This disproportionately affected soils with high agricultural productivity, and the resulting shift to less productive soils to maintain the total area of cultivated crops could lead to greater reliance on fertilizers and irrigation.

The study, published in June 2024 in Soil Security, was supported by the Hatch Multistate Research Fund at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

This article was posted in Economic and Community Development, Findings, Healthy Ecosystems, Summer 2025 and tagged Agriculture, soil and Environmental Sciences, soil sealing, urban development.