To understand rodent distribution patterns at beach and lakeside areas of Dongting Lake and effectively prevent and control a rodent outbreak, a rodent survey was conducted at 15 survey sites from 2003 to 2013. Survey sites included the East, West, and South Dongting Lake. Snap traps were used throughout the census. The survey was conducted in each season, in addition to a survey in the mature bottomland. Surveys were usually carried out in January (winter), April (spring), July (summer), and October (autumn).All habitats were divided into five different types-beach, beach reconverted from farmland, lakeside farmland, hilly woodland, and residential premises surrounding the lake. We set 80,111 traps and caught 3,769 animals consisting of 10 species:Microtus fortis, Apodemus agrarius, Rattus norvegicus, R.tanezumi, R.losea, R. nitidus, Mus musculus, Niviventer fulvescens, N.confucianus, and Micromys minutus. The total trap succession of all species of rodents was 4.75%, the capture rate in the field was 4.77%, and the capture rate in farmhouses was 2.34%. The highest capture rate of the five habitats occurred at the beach, followed by the beach reconverted from farmland, hilly woodland, residential premises, and lakeside farmland. Since species abundance on the beaches increased after the Three-Gorges Project commenced, eight rodent species were captured at the beach, which was the habitat where the most species were captured. However, the diversity index of Shannon-Weiner was not highest among habitats, duo to the outstanding dominant species in the beach. The two dominant species were A.agrarius and M.fortis, because they were caught in all habitats, except residential premises. Dominant species differed in different habitats. M. fortis was the dominant species at beach wetlands of the Dongting Lake, where as A.agrarius was the dominant species at lakeside farmland and beach reconverted from farmland. N.fulvescens and N.confucianus mainly dominated the hilly woodland habitats surrounding the lake. R.tanezumi and M. musculus usually appeared in the farmhouse habitat. The species diversity indexes of the rodent community indifferent habitats differed. The concentration index of the beach reconverted from farmland was highest, whereas the Shannon-Wiener index was the lowest. The Shannon-Wiener index of hilly woodland was higher than that of other habitats, whereas the concentration index was lower, owing to the least disturbance by human activities or water. Although the species abundance on lakeside farmland and beach (7 and 8 species, respectively)were as high as in hilly woodland(7 species), their dominant species concentration indexes (0.4434 and 0.5365, respectively)were not as low as that in hilly woodland (0.2386), and their Shannon-Wiener indices (0.9380 and 0.8149, respectively) were not as high as in hilly woodland (1.5685), as a result of more disturbance in farmland and beach habitat sowing to human social activities or water submergence. The similarity index between residential premises and beach reconverted from farmland or hilly woodland was the lowest. The highest value appeared among beach and lakeside farmland habitats. This study showed that some human social activities or water disasters could lead to reduced rodent species diversity, and increase the dominant rodent species populations, which is a major reason for outbreak of rodent.