The present thesis contains a detailed elaboration of the issue and methodology of examining the growth varaibility and growth potential of black alder (Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn.) in the region of Štiavnické vrchy. The individual areas were designed so that they capture whole spectre of native appearance of black alder. There is enrollment for each area that contains data such as: forest district, altitude, slope orientation, slope inclination, stand age and description of the area. In each area, three co-dominant threes were chosen, which do not affect each other in the canopy layer and are representative for whole stand by their dendrometric characteristics. The actual bores are taken at height of 1,3 m by the Pressler’s auger in two perpendicular directions. The direction of the first bore is continuosly altered to avoid systematic error (ŠMELKO 1982). Collected incrememt cores are then dried and glued to 2 mm deep grooves of wooden stencil. After drying, they are manually sandpaper grinded with the grit of 200 ((COOK, KAIRIUKSTIS 1990). The samples are digitized with Epson Expression 10000 XL scanner with definition of 1200 dpi. and processed with the program WinDendroTM 2009b (Régent Instruments, Inc.). The width of the individual annual rings is measured with an accuracy of 0,001 mm.