Abstract: The silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) is an important economic fish in the Yangtze River's middle and upper layers. Based on the survey data of fishery resources and environmental data collected from the upper Reaches of the Yangtze River to the Three Gorges reservoir area in 2019-2020, we analyzed the spatial distribution characteristics of resource density of juvenile silver carp, as well as the environmental factors influencing its spatial distribution using the generalized additive model (GAM). The environmental factors were selected using Pearson’s correlation analysis to determine whether they were significantly correlated and to verify that the variables in the model were independent. Thereafter, the best model was determined by a minimum Akaike information criterion (AIC). The results show that the resource density of juvenile silver carp in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River has obvious spatial distribution characteristics, mainly concentrated in the Fengdu River section at the tail of the Three Gorges Reservoir. GAM analysis revealed that the main factors influencing the resource density and distribution of juvenile silver carp were flow velocity, plankton density, distance from the dam and water temperature in the upper Reaches of the Yangtze River, and the flow velocity having the highest deviance explained (57.7%). The resource density of juvenile silver carp shows a decreasing trend with increasing flow velocity, and is mostly distributed in the range of 0.10-0.55 m/s. The resource density of juvenile silver carp increases with increasing plankton density and distance from the dam, indicating a significant linear relationship between these variables and the resource density of silver carp. There was a multi-peak nonlinear relationship between the resource density of juvenile silver carp and the water temperature. With the increase of water temperature, the resource density of juvenile silver carp showed a slow upward trend, and the resource density of juvenile silver carp was mainly distributed in the range of 18℃-21.5℃. This result reveals the effects of flow velocity, plankton density, distance from the dam and water temperature in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River on the density distribution of juvenile silver carp. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the habitat protection of slow-flowing habitats at the tail of the reservoir and the confluence of trunk and tributaries to provide the basis for the recovery of silver carp population resources.