The relationship between the local structure and EPR spectrum is studied by diagonalizing the complete energy matrices for Mn2+ in a trigonal ligand-field. The results show that the degree of distortion increases with temperature increasing whether it is compressed or elongate distortion, and the distorted tendency of the local structure is different according to the sign of D. Meanwhile, the distortion of Cd(BF4)(2)center dot 6H(2)O:Mn2+ system is more sensitive to temperature than that of ZnSnF6 center dot 6H(2)O:Mn2+ system. Moreover, the EPR parameter D is closely associated with the local structure parameters R and h while (a - F) is mainly concerned with R. (C) 2010 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.