Abstract:Taking the upland meadow on Wugong Mountain as a study area, and based on the TM (Thematic Mapper) remote sensing image, this study used ENVI 5.1 and ArcGIS 10.0 software to calculate the vegetation coverage distribution pattern and to analyze the dynamic changes to upland meadow on Wugong Mountain. The results indicated that the area showed a progressively decreasing trend that fell by 9.72% during the study period. During the past 20 years, with the establishment of the Wugong Mountain Scenic Area and the development of tourism, the ecological restoration of upland meadow has meant that vegetation coverage has increased;the vegetation coverage distribution characteristics showed that vegetation was high in the southeast and low in the northwest. The low vegetation coverage meadow area was concentrated on a precipice on the northwest slope and on part of the ridge line, whereas meadow coverage was high on the southeast slope.The degradation and improvement of upland meadow coexisted in the study area. It was degraded in the northernmost end of the upland meadow and the low altitude area of the southeast and south slopes of Bai Hefeng-Jiu Longshan area; the vegetation showed improvement on the southern slope of Fa Yunjie. At the same time, the distribution pattern of vegetation coverage and terrain factors were closely related (P < 0.05):vegetation coverage showed regular change with the change in aspect.Its distribution was in the order:sunny slope > flat area > shady slope.Vegetation coverage rose firstly with the rise of slope and peaked at 15°-25°, but then fell along with the rise of the slope.It reached its lowest value at 45°-90°.Vegetation coverage showed a wavelike decline with increasing altitude, and achieved a maximum value at an altitude of 1000-1200m, and a minimum value at the peak region of 1800-1918.3m. This research showed that the methods employed were feasible and accurate and could be used to investigate large area distributions and variations in mountain meadow coverage. However in order to analyze the evolution and trends on upland meadow more accurately and reliably, the image data for different season should be used in a follow-up study that includes the long-term monitoring of vegetation coverage in the study area.