A brief review is given of the results of hydrological studies carried out in southern India on the effects of plantations of Eucalyptus and other fast growing exotic tree species on water resources, erosion and soil nutrients at sites of differing rainfall and soil depth in Karnataka. New results on the impacts of the plantations on raindrop-induced erosion and preliminary results from studies that are aimed at improving the water use efficiency of the plantations are also presented. The erosion studies indicate that soil detachment resulting from net rainfall beneath Eucalyptus camaldulensis will be greater than beneath Pinus caribaea but less than that beneath the indigenous species, Tectona grandis. The water use efficiency studies, which make use of a controlled environment facility, have confirmed that in the dry zone of southern India water availability is the principal limiting factor on growth although, when water is available, nutrient limitations become important. Removal of both water and nutrient stress results typically in a fivefold increase in volume growth for the first year of growth.
