A large amount of vegetation in nature exists in the form of heterogeneous vegetation patches, and variations in vegetation characteristics significantly affect water flow structures. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of alternating sparse and dense patches on turbulence characteristics. Multiple sets of heterogeneous vegetation scenarios were designed for numerical simulation analysis, and a comparison was made with homogeneous vegetation. Results indicate that compared with that of homogeneous vegetation, the arrangement of heterogeneous vegetation alters the distribution of flow velocities in the vegetation zone and the main channel, promoting material exchange between these regions. The vegetation density difference between sparse and dense vegetation patches in heterogeneous vegetation effect on the main channel increases with larger vegetation density differences, but the …