【Objective】 Four kinds of emergent plants (Scirpus validus, Heleocharis dulcis, Sparganium stoloniferum and Zizania latifolia) were transplanted to different altitudes (3 260 m, 2 437 m and 1 891 m) on the Napahai plateau wetland. The contents of chlorophyll and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters were measured. The results may provide a reference for photosynthetic characteristics of wetland plants in response to climatic change. 【Method】 The 4 kinds of wetland plants were examined with LI-6400 (Li-Cor Inc., USA) portable photosynthesis system in May 2012. Additionally, the chlorophyll contents of 4 kinds of plants were measured in laboratory. 【Results】 Among 4 kinds of wetland plants, Z.latifolia was more sensitive to environmental change compared to other three plants. All of them were restrained by light and low temperature stresses in the different altitudes. H.dulcis had strong tolerance to environmental chagne and no undesirable photosynthetic or physiological phenomena were observed. S.validus and S.stoloniferum had undesirable photosynthetic and physiological phenomena in response to light suppression and low temperature at 3 260 m. 【Conclusion】 Among 4 kinds of wetland plants, H.dulcis had the strongest resistance, followed by S.validus and S.stoloniferum, Z.latifolia was the last one. The differences in photosynthetic characteristics among different plants were attributed to both physiological and environmental factors.