Jiaozishan National Nature Reserve preserves the most complete vegetation and habitat of the central Yunnan Plateau, and is one of the hot spots with climate sensitivity. Univariate linear regression, Pettitt mutation test and Spearman correlation and other methods were used to analyze the change characteristics of climate elements and the extreme climate index from 1961 to 2019 in this area, as well as the temporal and spatial change trend characteristics of NDVI and its response to extreme climate index from 1999 to 2016. The aim was to study the climate change characteristics and the dynamic response of vegetation in Jiaozi Mountain, providing a reference for climate risk management in the reserve. The results showed that:(1) Global warming led to a significant change in the climate elements (average temperature, sunshine hours, wind speed and foggy day) from 1961 to 2019. The vertical temperature zones changed dynamically, and the baseband changed from a south subtropical zone to a north tropical zone in 2017-2019. (2) On the whole, the change rate and abrupt change point of the extreme temperature index from 1961 to 2019 were more significant than those of the extreme precipitation index. (3) From 1999 to 2016, the growth rate of NDVI decreased with the increasing of altitude. Taking the altitude of 2 736 m and 3 236 m as the boundary, the change rate of NDVI growth rate showed the trend of "high-low-high". (4) The correlation of NDVI_mean, NDVI_max and NDVI_min to extreme temperature index was stronger than that to extreme precipitation index, and NDVI_mean, NDVI_max, NDVI_min were most sensitive to warm index, precipitation intensity index and extreme precipitation day index. (5) If (extreme) climate change exceeds the vegetation tolerance threshold, vegetation growth might be inhibited. In view of the uncertainty of future climate change, it is necessary to further identify the impact of extreme climate change on NDVI in the reserve and strengthen the early warning, monitoring and control of extreme climate risk in the reserve.