A limnological study was carried out to determine the responses of superoxide dismutase （SOD） activities and soluble protein （SP） contents of 11 common aquatic plants to eutrophication stress. Field investigation in 12 lakes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River was carried out from March to September 2004. Our results indicated that non- submersed （emergent and floating-leafed） plants and submersed plants showed different responses to eutrophication stress. Both SOD activities of the non-submersed and submersed plants were negatively correlated with their SP contents （P 〈 0.000 1）. SP contents of non-submersed plants were significantly correlated with all nitrogen variables in the water （P 〈 0.05）, whereas SP contents of submersed plants were only significantly correlated with carbon variables as well as ammonium and Secchi depth （SD） in water （P 〈 0.05）. Only SOD activities of submersed plants were decreased with decline of SD in water （P 〈 0.001）. Our results indicate that the decline of SOD activities of submersed plants were mainly caused by light limitation, this showed a coincidence with the decline of macrophytes in eutrophic lakes, which might imply that the antioxidant system of the submersed plants were impaired under eutrophication stress.
