Exploring the relationship between grassland vegetation patterns and soil water conservation function plays an important role in evaluating and effectively utilizing soil and grassland vegetation resources. The study was conducted on the alpine grassland ecosystem in the Yellow River source area, a model of soil water conservation function was constructed using MODIS data and its spatial and temporal variation characteristics were explored. The spatial and temporal variation patterns of grassland vegetation were clarified, and the seasonal variation and spatial distribution characteristics of their coupling relationship were explored based on the theory of coupling coordination. The results showed that:(1) Soil water conservation function index and comprehensive vegetation index showed an increasing trend in all seasons from 2000 to 2021, and the seasonal average values were higher in summer and autumn than those in spring and winter. (2) The coupling coordination of soil water conservation function-vegetation (SWCF-VEG) basically showed an increasing trend in all seasons from 2000 to 2021, and the spatial distribution of the coupling coordination values were significantly varied among different soil layer depths, and the seasonal performance followed the order of summer>autumn>spring>winter. (3) The coupling coordination of SWCF-VEG showed an increasing trend for each grassland type in all seasons from 2000 to 2021. The mean values of coupling coordination for various soil depths in temperate grasslands were the maximum in all seasons, and the values of 10-20 cm were greater than those of 0-10 cm for each grassland type in summer, autumn and winter. The coupling coordination development types varied among grassland types in different seasons. The study could provide an efficient and quantitative spatiotemporal analysis method for the coupling relationship between grassland vegetation and soil water conservation function in the Yellow River source area, and the results could be the basis for the sustainable development of vegetation-soil in grassland.