Background: Shallow water habitats are frequently subject to adverse impacts of land use change, simply because of their low-lying positions in our landscapes. Effective management and restoration of these habitats – and in particular the macrophytes they harbor – will require greater understanding of vegetation dynamics and of the roles played by different species. Goals/objectives: (1) Promote communication among freshwater macrophyte researchers, and (2) stimulate further research on macrophyte community ecology with an eye toward application. Importance: The twin challenges of management and restoration – key components of stewardship for aquatic ecosystems – cannot be separated from the basic ecology of these systems. Diverse, oft-isolated macrophyte scientists need more avenues for communication. Interest to ESA: Similar successful sessions in the past attracted macrophyte researchers who would not otherwise have attended ESA. This session should be of particular interest to members of ESA’s Aquatic Section, and to anyone captivated by the general topic of vegetation dynamics – especially as it relates to invasive species and functional change. Theme and structure of session: Community compositional change in freshwater macrophyte communities can have ramifications for consumer populations and for ecosystem processes because different plant species may play different roles. The focus of presentations in this session will range from the identification, success, and management of individual species, to diverse impacts of different macrophyte species within their habitats, to community compositional change itself. Most of the talks center on invasive species, whose dominance continues to challenge our abilities to understand and restore function in shallow-water habitats.