Setting applied ecology as its research domain, the Institute is engaged in the researches on forest ecology and forestry eco-engineering, soil ecology and agricultural eco-engineering, and pollution ecology and environmental eco-engineering, with the focus on the rational utilization and protection of natural resources, the improvement of eco-environment, and the sustainable development of our forestry and agriculture.

　  The Institute has three research centers, one bio-specimen gallery, one arboretum and one nationally certified analytical technology center. Seven field research stations sponsored by the Institute were established in different parts of this country, among which, the Changbai Mountains Forest Ecosystem Research Station and the Shenyang Ecological Experimental Station are opened stations of CAS. The Laboratories of Ecological Processes in Terrestrial Ecosystem and Forest Ecology established by the Institute are the key laboratories of CAS.

　  Since the foundation of the Institute, more than 480 research achievements have been rewarded, including 24 state prize and 163 provincial class prizes. It is noteworthy that the Shelterbelt Research Group of the Institute won 'the 1998 TWNSO Prize in Agriculture'. Besides these, 230 monographs and more than 4900 papers were published, and 198 national invention patents were obtained.

The editor-ship of two journals 'Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology' and 'Chinese Journal of Ecology' has been authorized to the Institute.

　  The Institute has established international academic exchanges with about 100 institutions of more than 30 countries and regions, and set up technical and scientific cooperation with many countries, like USA, UK, Germany and Belgium. The joint labs have been built with the universities such as Shenyang Architectural and Civil Engineering University and Northeastern Forestry University.