Water enters the soil from precipitation – this is called Infiltration; water may remain indefinitely within the spaces or pores between soil particles as soil moisture. Soil moisture may be lost to the surface or atmosphere directly, or through plant uptake – this is called evapotranspiration. Soil moisture may also continue to move downward to join the groundwater—this is called groundwater recharge. Recharge is most likely to occur when the amount of water that is available to the soil exceeds the soil’s capacity to store it (field capacity). Recharge may also occur by saturated flow when water bypasses the soil matrix as it moves to depth in macropores (e.g. root holes, fractures).