Statistics on the status and trends in numbers of waterbirds are necessary for the conservation of their wetland habitats.Waterbirds are also considered as one of the indicators of habitat quality of wetlands.We reviewed the studies on the ecological relationships between waterbirds and lake ecosystems, and found that abundance and species richness of waterbirds could respond quickly to the biomass change of macrophytes and fishes, as well as variation of water level, trophic status of lakes, and colonial fish-eating birds could be used to monitor the level of persistent toxic substances in lakes.In turn, waterbirds could impose a significant impact to lakes through grazing on aquatic vegetation, and nutrient load by faecal deposition.In addition, management of lake ecosystems related to waterbirds was suggested accordingly.In order to have a better understanding of the factors that lead to switches between multiple stable states in eutrophic lakes, and on the restoration progress eutrophic lakes, waterbirds should be incorporated into monitoring of eutrophic lakes in the process of lake restoration in China, and additional studies to quantify the relationships between waterbirds and macrophytes, fish and environmental variables of lakes are necessary.