Abstract: Spartina alterniflora is one of the most successful invasive weeds in global estuaries and coastal wetland areas, and also,has major impacts on the coastal wetland soil ecosystems in China. This paper summarized the recent researches about the influence of S. alterniflora invasion on the soil ecosystems in estuaries and coastal wetland areas, mainly from the aspects of soil structural constituents (soil microbes and soil animals) and matter (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and heavy metals) cycles. The shortcomings of the ongoing researches were discussed, and the future research emphases, e.g., the influence of the invasion on soil microbes, the integration of the studies of above- and below-ground resources competition between S. alterniflora and native plants and related ecological processes, as well as the simulation and prediction about the invasion dynamics of S. alterniflora under the background of global climate change, were suggested.

Key words: Changjiang River estuary, Adjacent sea areas, Red tides, Environmental characteristics