Abstract: Suaeda heteroptera wetland in the Liaohe River Estuary is the main habitat of the endangered Black-headed Gull, which is substantially influenced by the salinity in sealand intersection zone. The wetland has been seriously degraded in recent years. It is important to uncoversuitable range of salinity forS. heteroptera growth so as to protect Black-headed Gull. In this study, growth simulators were used to examine the effects of saline solution on the growth and physio logical indices of S. heteroptera during the whole growth period treated by saline solutions with five concentrations of 0, 150, 300, 450 and 600 mmol·L^-1. The results showed that the height and root length of S. heteroptera reached the maximum at the concentration of 300 mmol·L^-1, being 45.6 cm and 14 cm respectively. At such a concentration, the contents of free proline, soluble sugar and soluble protein in both shoots and roots of S. heteroptera were the highest. The contents of the three osmoregulatory substances were 0.82 vs. 0.58 mg·g^-1, 8.46 vs. 6.86 mg·g^-1, and 22.26 vs. 19.36 mg·g^-1 in the shoots and roots, respectively. The height, root length, and contents of the three osmoregulatory substances of S. heteroptera were reduced at the concentration of 450 mmol·L^-1. At the concentration of 600 mmol·L^-1, S. heteroptera grew slowly with yellow stem and leaf abscission and even some plants died. All the growth indices and the contents of osmoregulatory substances remained an upward trend when the salt concentration was less than 300 mmol·L^-1. Our results indicated that suitable concentration of salt for the growth of S. heteroptera was between 150 and 450 mmol·L^-1, with the best effects at 300 mmol·L^-1  and the upper limit was 600 mmol·L^-1.