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Watershed Functions

Most of this training module has been spent describing the basic building blocks of watersheds, their structure and pattern. Now, the module concludes with a discussion of a few of the essential functions that occur in most healthy watersheds. These include:

• Transport and storage
  
• Cycling and transformation
  
• Ecological succession

As this module has gradually added layers upon layers of information about watersheds, this final category is the most complex. As you follow these materials, recall the elements of the physical template, the biological setting, the characteristics of natural systems, and the discussion of watershed structure and appreciate why watersheds as natural systems are capable of performing many complex functions.