Abstract: Based on GIS and RS, using landscape pattern index method, taking the vegetation map of the coastal zone of Yancheng in 1980 and remote sensing images of four periods(1991, 2000, 2008, 2018) as data sources, the information of wetlands landscape elements in five periods was extracted, and the landscape diversity index, dominance index, evenness index, fractal dimension, fragmentation index and corridor density index which can accurately reflect the changes of landscape structure were calculated. The results show that from 1980 to 2018, the landscape structure of wetlands landscape area in the coastal zone of Yancheng has changed obviously, and the landscape diversity index and evenness index have both increased by 0.4 times, while the dominance index has decreased by 0.4 times. The corridor density index shows a trend of increasing year by year, increasing by 18 times; the fragmentation index of landscape patches increased by 13 times; the average fractal dimension of 1.05 is the boundary value between constructed wetlands and natural wetlands. The landscape structure change of the coastal wetlands of Yancheng generally shows the trend of increasing the number of patches, decreasing the area of single patch, increasing the length of corridor and intensifying the fragmentation of landscape.