关键词: 高原鼠兔, 次生裸地, 图像处理, 面积测定

Abstract: Accurate measurement of the bare patches by excavating of plateau pikas（Ochotona curzoniae）is important for monitoring on vegetation degradation processes and for the bare patches recovery. Since traditional area measurement methods have disadvantages，a new digital image measurement method is used in out study. An image of bare patches excavated by plateau pikas can be obtained rapidly by means of a digital camera and its areas can be calculated based on the theory that each pixel represents a fixed amount of bared patch area；meanwhile we use Geographical Information System software （Arcview）to improve the accuracy. A series steps were adapted in this method，including tripod installation，digital camera adjustment，photographing，opening image files in Arcview，polygon layer creation，defining the area of a reference object，and drawing the polygon outlining the patches region. Using this method we surveyed the bared patches areas of plateau pikas and found that the irregular patches area could be measured accurately and rapidly. The feasibility and superiority of this approach combined with field experiment are discussed.

Key words: Area measurement, Bare patches, Image processing, Plateau pika(Ochotona curzoniae)