A historical controversy exists on the use of water by eucalypt plantations worldwide. This study presents the results of an intensive hydrologic monitoring carried out since 1994 in a watershed in Aracruz-ES, Brazil. After over eight years of measuring a eucalyptus forest and its neighboring native species stands (Atlantic Rainforest), the measurements and hydrological models have shown that the eucalypt trees may consume water more economically than the native trees, considering its whole growing cycle of seven years. The evapotranspiration and precipitation ratio showed a water balance when the precipitation is close to the annual average.
Eucalypt; Atlantic rainforest; water use; hydrologic models; water balance; evapotranspiration
