Methane (CH₄) is the second largest greenhouse gas in the atmosphere after CO₂, contributing 30%-40% of the global greenhouse effect. CH₄ in the atmosphere mainly comes from human activities and natural ecosystem release. In lake ecosystems, a major proportion of CH₄ emissions originates from the littoral wetland, which has a great deal of spatial variability in hydrology, sediment quality and vegetation. Methanotrophs play a crucial role in mitigating CH₄ emissions from lake systems to the atmosphere. However, the distribution of the aerobic methane-oxidizing bacteria (MOB) community in the littoral wetland and their driving factors are less understood. In this article, we investigated the MOB communities in habitats ranging from an open water area (permanently flooded) to an occasionally flooded area in the littoral wetland of Caohai in Guizhou in four different seasons. The MOB communities were characterized by quantitative PCR, terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP), and sequencing of pmoA genes encoding the α subunit of the particulate methane monooxygenase. The abundance and structure of the sediment methanotrophic community showed a remarkable spatial variation. The littoral sediment methanotrophic communities were composed of Methylococcus and Methylobacter (type I methanotrophs) and Methylosinus (type II methanotrophs). Type I methanotrophs were most abundant in the permanently flooded area whereas type II methanotrophs were most abundant in the dry-wet transition zone and the occasionally flooded area. An explanation for this distribution pattern is that type I MOB usually have a lower affinity for CH₄ than type II MOB, therefore, type I MOB have a strong competitive advantage in places with high CH₄ levels. In addition, type II MOB are considered to be K-strategists and have a better ability to endure drought than type I MOB. This suggests that different types of methanotrophs may participate in CH₄ oxidation under different water levels in the littoral wetland. Our study gives an in-depth insight into the spatio-temporal heterogeneity of MOB community composition in the littoral wetland of Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau lake. The hydrological conditions are important factors determining the spatio-temporal heterogeneity of MOB communities in littoral wetlands that directly, or indirectly affect the spatio-temporal distribution of MOB communities through regulating physicochemical conditions and plant communities in sediments. However, further studies are still needed to understand the role of type I and type Ⅱ MOB in CH₄ oxidation in the littoral wetland community and to clarify the effect of sediment pH and plant community on the littoral wetland MOB community distribution regulation mechanisms.