A study was conducted on how activities of plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) in Kobresia pygmaea meadows affect the distribution of soil organic carbon and readily available nitrogen in the soil and their coupling relationship in the effect, using the method of counting effective burrows density of the animals in the field as the basis for setting up a disturbance gradient. In the study, the activity or disturbance of the animals was divided into four levels in intensity. In Level I, 112 effective burrows hm^-2 were found, Level II, 192 were, Level Ⅲ, 352 were, and Level Ⅳ, 608 were. Results show that with the activity of the animal getting intensified, the contents of organic carbon in the 0~10 cm and 10~20 cm soil layers of the vegetation-covered land (over 80% of the land covered with vegetation) and bare land (patches of land devegetated by the burrowing animals, with only 10% of the vegetation left growing) rose significantly first and then dropped rapidly, and the contents were the highest in lands of Level Ⅱ or about 21.51% and 46.03% higher than that in lands of Level I. And furthermore, content of organic carbon was much higher in the topsoil layers of vegetation-covered lands than in those of bare lands. The content of readily available N in the bare lands increased significantly first and then declined apparently, and the increase in bare lands of Level II was the biggest or 155.63% higher than that in the vegetation-covered lands, which had significant differences. Under the disturbance of the animals, contents of soil organic carbon, soil available nitrogen and NH₄⁺-N decreased with soil depth in the vegetation-covered lands and were much higher in the 0~10 cm soil layer than in the 10~20 cm soil layer, however, content of NO3--N acted reversely and was lower in the 0~10 cm soil layer than in the 10~20 cm soil layer, where topsoil organic carbon accounted for 69.74% of the total in the soil. In the bare lands 0~10 cm soil layer, the soil available nitrogen and NH₄⁺-N content were significantly lower than in the 10~20 cm soil layer and the NO₃⁻-N content significantly higher than 10~20 cm soil layer, content of organic carbon did not varied much between the two soil layers except of Level I. Under the plateau pika’s disturbance, soil organic carbon was in significantly negative relationships with available nitrogen, NO₃⁻-N and NH₄⁺-N in the vegetation-covered lands, but in significantly positive relationships in the bare lands. It indicates that the activities of the animals changed the coupling relationships of soil C and N and the disturbance of a proper intensity may significantly increase the content of soil organic carbon in the Kobresia pygmaea meadows and cause the formation of bare patches relatively high in nitrogen content, which provides room for expansion, colonization and reproduction of other grasses or opportunistic plant species. Burrowing activities of plateau pika can alter vertical distribution of soil nutrients, which enhances heterogeneity of the soil. All the findings in this study demonstrate that the study to investigate effects of plateau pika disturbing the soil in the alpine meadow should take into account the influence and meaning of the existence of bare patches and the necessity of unified vegetation types, and the population density of plateau pika should be controlled within a reasonable range in the Kobresia pygmaea meadow.