This study examined cultivated land (A1) and cultivated land abandoned for one (A2), five (A3) and eight (A4) years, as well as the arable land abandoned for five years with the growth of Argyreia seguinii (R1) in Wushan's alpine emigrant region. The method of space series replacing time course was used to compare the plant diversity and community structure among different abandonment periods in terms of importance value (P), Margalef richness index (S), Shannon diversity index (H'), Pielou evenness index (J_w), Simpson dominance index (D), Jaccard similarity index (C_j), Sorenson similarity index (C_s) and threshold of plant species diversity (D_v). The results indicated that, as the abandonment period increased, the community structure transformed from a shrub-herb (1-2 species) community to an arbor-shrub-herb community and the dominant plants changed from heliophilous annuals or perennial herbs to shade-loving perennial herbs. For the herb and shrub layers, the plant diversity followed the same rules: its maximum appeared in the medium or late periods and the similarity index was the highest between A2 and A3. After evaluating the situation of plant-species diversity over the different abandonment periods, it is clear that plant restoration failed to reach the "Well (Ⅲ)"level. Plant restoration required a long period of time before it was able to achieve a "Rich(Ⅱ)" degree of diversity. The growth of Argyreia seguinii should also be monitored during restoration to prevent it from invading plant.