Lab 3: Change in Land Usage in Different Counties of New

Jersey

ENVL 4300
By: Tyler-Anne Buck

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Abstract/Summary..3
Introduction....3
Objectives..4
Results...4
Discussion...11
Conclusion..12
References..13
Appendix14

Abstract:
The understanding of how land is used and how this usage is changing is important in
understanding how humans interact and effect the environment. The purpose of this study was to
look at the changes in land use of four different counties in the state of New Jersey. The general
consensus, supported by a closer look at Monmouth County, reveals the most significant increase
in urban land use, specifically that of residential urban land use. This reflects the growing
population in the state of New Jersey. Higher residential land use is prominent in the shore
counties of Monmouth and Ocean. The use of land for agriculture decreased in all four counties
as well.
Introduction:
The concept of land use refers to the designation given to different parcels of land based
on their main usage. The main usages looked at in the study included agriculture, forest, urban,
wetlands, water, and barren lands. Monitoring land use can aid in developing environmental
management plans. It can help in determining potential environmental impacts and probability
that a management plan will succeed based on visible trends.
One study observed that increased urban land use lead to increased water pollution,
changes in the shorelines, and alteration of ecosystems through degradation of habitats (Conway,
2005). This study also predicted that, from 1995, urban land use would increase by 40%, forests
would decrease by 9%, and wetlands and agriculture land use would remain stable through to
2020. The large increase in urban use was predicted based on rapid regional population growth.
In addition, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) also found that urban and
agricultural land uses were linked to the susceptibility of drinking water sources to
contamination (New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 2005). For these reasons

relating to environmental impact, it is important to monitor land use changes, especially in

relation to population growth. The demands made on the land in order to support the increasing
population in the state of New Jersey coincides with the changes that are occurring with land
usage.
Objectives:
The objective of this study was to use available data on state land use in order to compare
changes in that land use between the years 1986 and 2012 using ArcMap. The main land use
categories included agriculture, barren land, forests, urban, water, and wetlands. Comparisons
were assessed across four different counties with a closer focus on Monmouth County. These
four counties included Monmouth, Ocean, Bergen, and Passaic. In addition, land use of one
neighborhood of Tinton Falls in Monmouth County was observed using digital orthoquads
between the years 1995 and 2012. Further research was conducted to better understand the
reasons that accounted for the changes in land use.
Results:
The results of this study show an increase in urban land use and a decrease in agricultural
land use between 1986 and 2012 across Passaic, Bergen, Monmouth and Ocean County.
Monmouth County had the highest increase in its urban land use, totaling a 33,384.77 acre
increase that can be seen in Figure 2. Of the urban land uses, residential usage was the most
significantly increase illustrated in Figure 3. Its largest loss was in 24,952.43 acres of
agricultural land that can be seen in Figure 4. Of the agricultural land, however, the Other
Agriculture increased by 2836.4 acres between 1986 and 2012 (Figure 5) while cropland,
pastureland, orchards/vineyards/nurseries, and confined feeding operation decreased. The second
largest loss in Monmouth County between 1986 and 2012, as shown in Figure 6, is of 4,743.84
4

acres of forest. The orthoquads of Tinton Falls in Monmouth County in Figure 7 and Figure 8
visually show an increase in urban land use in the bottom half of the photos.
The urban land use increase from 1995 to 2012 of Passaic and Bergen compared with
Monmouth and Ocean are seen in Figure 9. Monmouth and Ocean Countys urban land use
increase 40,850.16 acres more than Passaic and Bergen. Figure 10 shows the change in forest
land use between 1986 and 2012. Monmouth and Ocean County decreased in forest land use
while Bergen and Passaic County increased in forest land use. There was an overall net increase
of forest land use of 12,706.74 acres between the four counties. Lastly, Figure 11 displays the
change in agricultural land use amongst the four counties. They had a net decrease of 30,575.83
acres.

Figure 1: Land usage of Monmouth County of 1986 and 2012

Figure 2: Urban land use of 1986 in green compared with urban land use of 2012 in
pink of Monmouth County. Overlap in shown in mauve.

Figure 3: Residential land use of 1986 in pink compared with residential land use of 2012 in blue
of Monmouth County. Overlap is shown in purple.

Figure 4: Agriculture land use of 1986 in blue compared with agriculture land use of 2012 in red
showing a decreasing trend in Monmouth County.

Figure 5: Monmouth County "Other Agriculture" of 1986 shown in yellow

compared with "Other Agriculture of 2012 shown in blue. Overlap is shown in
green.
Figure 6: Monmouth County forest land use of 1986 shown in green compared to forest land use
of 2012 shown in pink. Purple reveals overlap.

Figure 7: Orthoquad of the town of Tinton Falls in Monmouth County from 1995.

Figure 8: Orthoquad of the town of Tinton Falls in Monmouth County from 2012.

10

Figure 9: Comparison of Urban land use in 1995 in neon

green with the urban land use of 2012 in red between
Passaic, Bergen, Monmouth, and Ocean County. Overlap
is shown in mustard.

Figure 10: Forest land use in 1986 shown in

blue compared with forest land use of 2012
shown in dark green between Passaic, Bergen,
Monmouth and Ocean County. Teal represents
no change.

11

Figure 11: Agricultural land use of 1986 shown in

blue compared with agricultural land use of 2012
shown in red between Passaic, Bergen,
Monmouth and Ocean County. Purple represents
no change.

Discussion:
Land use is completely dictated by human activities. Of those activities, it is the basic
movement of people that shapes the land. According the U.S. Census Bureau, the population of
New Jersey has increase in population by about 1,106,703 people between 1990 and 2010 (U.S.
Census Bureau, 2016). Urban development has grown in accessible areas, such as those near
highway (Conway, 2005). This leads to even more sprawl and the need for more development in
order to support growing communities. This has led to the conversion of forest and barren land
into urban land use.
Monmouth and Ocean County are coastal counties compared with Passaic and Bergen.
Coastal land markets are more highly regulated and this is due to the higher populations

12

(Gyourko, Saiz, & Anita, 2008) and their influence on the surrounding environment. This
accounts for why the residential category of the urban land use shows the most prominent
increase. In addition, this also correlates to the conversion of forest in Monmouth and Ocean into
urban land, such as residential and newly developed. These findings agree with those of Lathrop,
2004. More and more people are moving to the coast.
Another interesting difference can be seen in Figure 11, where Monmouth County stands
out from the other three due to its high amount of agricultural land. Of the net loss amongst all
four counties of 30,575.83 acres, 24,952.43 acres were lost just from Monmouth County. Many
farmland areas are being converted into housing for the elderly. This, once again, correlates to
the change in population. As the population changes, land use will continue to change as into the
future.
Conclusion:
The alterations in land use changes between Monmouth, Ocean, Bergen and Passaic
County have similar trends that reflect an increase in residential uses and a decrease in
agriculture. The coastal counties of Monmouth and Ocean differ from Passaic and Bergen with
their decrease in forested land. The water, wetland and barren land uses show minimal variation
between counties. Land use changes will need continued monitoring as the states population
grows and as the effects of global climate change continue. These factors may become a bigger
influence on the water and wetlands of the state. Overall, urban use continues to be the largest
increasing land use. The real question is how much more can it change.

13

References.

Conway, T. M. (2005). Current and future patterns of land-use change in the coastal zoning of
New JErsey. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 32, 877-893.
Gyourko, J., Saiz, A., & Anita, S. (2008). A New Measure of the Local Regulatory Environment
for Housing Markets: The Wharton Residential Land Use Regulatory Index. Urban
Studies, 693-729.
Lathrop, R. G. (2004, May). New Jersy Land Use/Land Cover Update: 200-2001. Retrieved
from nj.gov: http://www.nj.gov/dep/dsr/landuse/landuse00-01.pdf
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. (2005, May). Land Use and LAnd Cover.
Retrieved from nj.gov: http://www.nj.gov/dep/dsr/trends/pdfs/landuse.pdf
U.S. Census Bureau. (2016, February 15). 2010 Census. Retrieved from Census.gov:
http://www.census.gov/2010census/popmap/ipmtext.php?fl=34

14

Appendix.

(New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 2005)

15

(New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 2005)

16