Caratteri morfosedimentari del sistema dunare costiero in sinistra foce del Fiume Garigliano.

The dune zone included in the coastal area and located to the left of the Garigliano River mouth has been studied. It plays a key role in the balance of a coastal environment for its positive effect on the beach and backbeach. The sedimentary and morphological studies have allowed to defi ne that the analyzed coastal area is affected diffusely by erosion processes linked to natural factors as well as to human activities of various kinds; causing the complete erosion of foredune occurred. The foredune plays a crucial role in the dynamic relationship with the beach and sediment supply of the other dunes. The erosion processes resulted into a signifi cant retreat of the shoreline (on average about ninety meters in the last 55 years), as well as the alteration of the succession of vegetation assemblages characteristic of coastal environments. Even the secondary dunes is being dismantled, only 50 years ago it was tertiary and stable. Two elements emerge: the crucial absence of the foredune, responsible for the sediment supply of the other dunes, and the anomalous advanced position of secondary dune, which is in the process of dismantling with the progressive loss of the juniper habitat of high environmental value. Among the human factors contributing to the shoreline retreating there are some negative practices such as cleaning by mechanical means and the extension of the beach at the expense of the dune, with strong reduction in terms both of resilience and of potential growth capacity of the dune itself