A plankton-herbivore state-dependent impulsive model with nonlinear impulsive functions and action threshold including population density and rate of change is proposed. Since the use of action threshold makes the model have complex phase set and pulse set, we adopt the Poincaré map as a tool to study its complex dynamics. The Poincaré map is defined on the phase set and its properties in different situations are analyzed. Furthermore, the periodic solution of model are discussed, including the existence and stability conditions of the order-1 periodic solution and the existence of the order-k (k ≥ 2) periodic solutions. Compared with the fixed threshold in the existing literature, our results show that the use of action threshold is more practical, which is conducive to the sustainable development of population and makes people obtain more economic benefits. The analysis method used in this paper can study the complex dynamics of the model more comprehensively and deeply.