The survival of waterbirds depends heavily on habitat, particularly
aquatic plants. Previous studies usually focused on the use of
hydrological management to achieve protection and restoration of aquatic
plants. However, the hydrological processes in many lakes have been
greatly changed and their ecological objectives usually cannot be
achieved by hydrological management alone. This study proposes a new
method to satisfy waterbird habitat requirements, by combining the
management of hydrological processes and plant structure. In this study,
the Hongze Lake National Wetland Nature Reserve was taken as the
research area. Based on the water levels that different hydrophytes
require for survival, and on waterbirds' needs for foraging and nesting
area, we determined plantable area and plant structures under the
current hydrological process. We then set three representative
hydrological process scenarios and determined appropriate plantable area
and plant structures under these hydrological processes. The results
show that the current hydrological process of Hongze Lake is not
conducive to the planting of the hydrophytes needed by waterbirds. A
combination of hydrophyte planting and hydrological process management,
however, can effectively expand the area of these aquatic plants. Within
the constraints of flood control, the water level in March should be
reduced, and the water level in July should be increased as much as
possible. Therefore, a management method is provided for aquatic plant
restoration and waterbird habitat protection in wetlands.