In a hydrologic budget for a watershed, which term represents water loss through plant transpiration and evaporation?

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Evapotranspiration is the combined loss of water to the atmosphere from a watershed, covering both evaporation from surface water and soil, and transpiration through plant leaves. In a hydrologic budget, water enters as precipitation and exits through several pathways, including discharge (outflow in streams), infiltration (water entering the soil), and evapotranspiration. Evapotranspiration specifically accounts for the total flux of water vapor leaving the landscape via both surface evaporation and plant transpiration, making it the term that matches water lost through those processes. Evaporation alone describes only surface water vaporization, while transpiration refers to water leaving plants; their sum is evapotranspiration.