Liaohe River Reserve was established in 2010, and recovered primarily by natural ecological restoration. Based on the 500 metres normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) extracted from the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) images, we examined the spatial-temporal dynamics of NDVI before (2000-2009) and after (2010-2015) establishment of Liaohe River Reserve. The results showed that:(1) annual NDVI increased from 2000 to 2015. The interannual increase in NDVI mainly occurred in the summers of 2000-2009, and in springs and winters of 2010-2015. The significant increase of spring NDVI from 2010 to 2015 promoted the improvement of the ecosystem sand fixation service. (2) At the seasonal scale, during 2000-2009, spring precipitation was positively correlated with spring and summer NDVI. Summer temperature was negatively correlated with summer NDVI. During 2010-2015, only the variation in summer NDVI was associated with spring temperature and summer sunshine duration. (3) At the monthly scale, temperature was the dominant factor affecting NDVI variation of the Liaohe River Reserve, and temperature change had a lag effect of one month on NDVI variation during 2010-2015. NDVI variation during 2000-2009 was significantly linked to precipitation change with a lag time of one month, but variation in 2010-2015 had no time lag effect. (4) Farming practices were the dominant anthropogenic factors affecting NDVI dynamics during 2000-2009. After the establishment of Liaohe River Reserve, natural restoration and construction of small artificial wetlands promoted the increase of NDVI, whereas the construction of large artificial wetlands and artificial pastures had no significant influence on NDVI dynamics.