Groundwater-dependent vegetation is essential in arid ecosystems, where it maintains ecological balance and supports biodiversity. The health and functionality of this vegetation are closely linked to groundwater characteristics, including groundwater quality, distribution, and fluctuations. This review explores the relationship between vegetation and groundwater, methods for identifying groundwater-dependent vegetation, the impact of groundwater on the plants, adaptation mechanisms of these plants, and the nonlinear dependencies and thresholds of vegetation in groundwater environments. The objectives of the study are to provide a theoretical foundation for protecting and restoring arid ecosystems and to provide support for the sustainable development and utilization of groundwater resources. Future research should focus on plant responses to groundwater changes at the individual, population, and community scales; the effects of climate change and human activities on groundwater-dependent vegetation; innovative methods for studying ecosystem resilience and state-transition mechanisms for groundwater-dependent vegetation; and identifying stable water environment factors and catastrophic thresholds for typical groundwater-dependent vegetation.