Second-year students of the Department of Forest Engineering, Faculty of Forestry, carried out a day-long field practice at Kovada Lake National Park on October 22, 2026, as part of the “Angiospermae” and “Soil Science” courses offered in the fall term of the 2026–2027 academic year, with the participation of Prof. Dr. Hüseyin FAKİR, Prof. Dr. Yasin KARATEPE, Assist. Prof. Dr. Fatma Merve NACAKCI, and Res. Asst. Nazlı ÖĞÜT.
Kovada Lake National Park, located in the area of responsibility of the Isparta Nature Conservation and National Parks Directorate, which is affiliated with the 6th Regional Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks, is an important natural area owing to its rich biodiversity, natural landscape features, and the ecological integrity formed by the lake ecosystem and the surrounding forested areas.
During the field practice, students examined the park’s flora and vegetation on site and learned about naturally occurring plant species. Tree and shrub species such as Turkish oak, kermes oak, oriental plane, Macedonian oak, nettle tree, çılbırtı shrub, yellow hawthorn, red hawthorn, chaste tree, Christ’s thorn, and akçakesme were observed in their natural habitats, and their morphological characteristics were evaluated.
In the Soil Science course, the factors affecting soil formation, such as parent material, topography, and climate, as well as the relationships between soil properties and vegetation, were discussed. The effects of properties such as soil depth, texture, drainage, moisture, and nutrients on the distribution of plant species and their habitat preferences were evaluated. In this way, the aim was for students to observe on site the ecological conditions that determine the occurrence of species in their natural environments.
The field practice aimed to develop students’ skills in recognizing angiosperms in their natural habitats, examining their morphological characteristics, and reinforcing their theoretical knowledge with field observations. In addition to enhancing students’ professional knowledge and observation skills, the event also contributed to raising their awareness of natural resource conservation and sustainable management.
