Since the establishment of the Institute, the department has changed names several times, but research has continuously been based on the study of genetic diversity, forest tree breeding, seed testing and improvement of nursery production with the aim of controlling the quality and resistance of forest seedlings. The department is also responsible for the selection, investigation and regular control of seed stands. The selection of seed stands is carried out on the basis of phenotypic traits starting from the general principles of genetics.
One of the main methods of breeding in practice is the selection of species from the natural populations which possess natural genetic variability.
Introduction of plants from different geographical and ecological areas can provide a wide range of diverse reproductive material. New species are mainly introduced for economic and aesthetic reasons. The most reliable way of testing introduced species is the provenance test, which aims at selecting adaptive and productive provenances of selected tree species.
Within the programme of breeding introduced conifer species, the Institute of Forestry has set provenance tests of Douglas-fir at several sites in Serbia, in order to test all features of the species: anatomical, physiological-morphological, and mechanical. The Department is involved in the programmes in the following fields: genetics, seed production, physiology, tree breeding, morphology, taxonomy and chemotaxonomy, introduction and selection of plants.