170
H. Elbasiouny and F. Elbehiry
and food production in this area have led to the extension of reclamation projects
in the surrounds degraded and desert areas [70, 88]. Zhang et al. [28] stated that
coastal wetlands are valuable resources play a significant role in carbon sequestration.
Therefore, coastal wetlands reclamation has become a common practice for the
acquisition of new agricultural soil in many countries over the world. The reclamation
process in such areas may have a significant effect on SOC due to altering soil
condition and inputs and outputs of organic C. Such as other areas climate conditions,
soil properties, topography, and anthropogenic activities are general affecting factors
on SOC dynamics. However, SOC dynamics in such coastal reclaimed soils is also
affected by certain specific factors such as salinity, pH and reclamation duration [28].
As the SOC is a key indicator of soil quality and productivity. Thus, restoring the
quality of degraded soils require increasing soil C sequestration through increasing
SOC density, improving depth distribution of SOC and stabilizing and protecting
SOC in stable micro-aggregates. Therefore, adopting recommended management
practices in agroecosystems, in addition to practices that can create a positive soil
C budget, is a crucial strategy for SOC sequestration in the terrestrial ecosystems
[54]. In a study of [70] to compare between C and N stocks in such degraded and
uncultivated soils and cultivated restored (reclaimed 20 years ago) sites in North Nile
Delta, and to investigate the impact of cultivation on soil C and N sequestration in
this area. Soil C and N stocks increased significantly in upper soil from 2.99 and
0.43 Mg h
−1 in the degraded soil to 19.26 and 1.66 Mg h
−1 in restored ones. As well,
salinity was reduced, and NPP was increased because of leaching and reclamation.
Therefore, such findings support the suggestion that restored area have a high capacity
to sequester N.
Moreover, IFOAM [77] in a case study on Egypt stated that Composting in the
Egyptian desert in Sekem organic farm had been demonstrated to be high sequestration by sequestering over 3 metric tons of carbon dioxide per hectare per year. It is
conducted from this trial that compost trials in the Egyptian desert show that organic
farming practices—recycling of organic waste to compost and adding to the soil in
dryland regions have the potential to mitigate climate change by avoiding emissions
and sequestrating high levels of carbon. Furthermore, these systems improve soil
fertility and increase food security in the area.
13 Sequestration Rate of Soil C and N Stocks in North Nile
Delta Egypt
As the largest terrestrial reservoir of C, the world’s soil may strongly act as a sink
or a source of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) [23, 89, 90]. Qiu et al. [5] reported
that there could be a large capacity for soil C and N sequestration when protective
management practices were implemented. In a study on north Nile delta Egypt [81],
the sequestration rate of soil C and N data was calculated based on actual data of
soil C and N (and estimated data of past soil C and N. The actual data are field
H. Elbasiouny and F. Elbehiry
and food production in this area have led to the extension of reclamation projects
in the surrounds degraded and desert areas [70, 88]. Zhang et al. [28] stated that
coastal wetlands are valuable resources play a significant role in carbon sequestration.
Therefore, coastal wetlands reclamation has become a common practice for the
acquisition of new agricultural soil in many countries over the world. The reclamation
process in such areas may have a significant effect on SOC due to altering soil
condition and inputs and outputs of organic C. Such as other areas climate conditions,
soil properties, topography, and anthropogenic activities are general affecting factors
on SOC dynamics. However, SOC dynamics in such coastal reclaimed soils is also
affected by certain specific factors such as salinity, pH and reclamation duration [28].
As the SOC is a key indicator of soil quality and productivity. Thus, restoring the
quality of degraded soils require increasing soil C sequestration through increasing
SOC density, improving depth distribution of SOC and stabilizing and protecting
SOC in stable micro-aggregates. Therefore, adopting recommended management
practices in agroecosystems, in addition to practices that can create a positive soil
C budget, is a crucial strategy for SOC sequestration in the terrestrial ecosystems
[54]. In a study of [70] to compare between C and N stocks in such degraded and
uncultivated soils and cultivated restored (reclaimed 20 years ago) sites in North Nile
Delta, and to investigate the impact of cultivation on soil C and N sequestration in
this area. Soil C and N stocks increased significantly in upper soil from 2.99 and
0.43 Mg h
−1 in the degraded soil to 19.26 and 1.66 Mg h
−1 in restored ones. As well,
salinity was reduced, and NPP was increased because of leaching and reclamation.
Therefore, such findings support the suggestion that restored area have a high capacity
to sequester N.
Moreover, IFOAM [77] in a case study on Egypt stated that Composting in the
Egyptian desert in Sekem organic farm had been demonstrated to be high sequestration by sequestering over 3 metric tons of carbon dioxide per hectare per year. It is
conducted from this trial that compost trials in the Egyptian desert show that organic
farming practices—recycling of organic waste to compost and adding to the soil in
dryland regions have the potential to mitigate climate change by avoiding emissions
and sequestrating high levels of carbon. Furthermore, these systems improve soil
fertility and increase food security in the area.
13 Sequestration Rate of Soil C and N Stocks in North Nile
Delta Egypt
As the largest terrestrial reservoir of C, the world’s soil may strongly act as a sink
or a source of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) [23, 89, 90]. Qiu et al. [5] reported
that there could be a large capacity for soil C and N sequestration when protective
management practices were implemented. In a study on north Nile delta Egypt [81],
the sequestration rate of soil C and N data was calculated based on actual data of
soil C and N (and estimated data of past soil C and N. The actual data are field