In this study, the distribution of submerged plants in 154 rivers in Ningbo urban area was investigated. The environmental indexes were measured at 63 sampling sites of rivers. The physiological parameters of submerged plants in autumn and winter were also analyzed. Our results show that 3 species of submerged plants (including Hydrilla verticillata, Vallisneria natans and Ceratophyllum demersum) were observed in eight rivers of Ningbo urban area. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) of submerged plants and environmental factors revealed that the distribution of submerged plants was negatively correlated with water depth, ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N) and total phosphorus(TP), while positively correlated with redox potential, dissoloved oxygen(DO) and pH. Compared with rivers without submerged plants, the ones dominated with submerged plants are generally shallower and have better water quality. Compared with autumn, the coverage of the three plant communities decreased in winter, and the contents of H₂O₂ and MDA increased in H. verticillata and V. natans, suggesting low temperature cause damaged to these plants; while all the three submerged plants in this study showed somewhat endurance to low temperature stress because of the increase of antioxidant enzymes, soluble protein and soluble sugar in plants. These results indicate that water depth, NH₃-N, TP, DO and low temperature might be the main factors limiting the submerged plant restoration in Ningbo urban rivers.