Evolution of rocky desertification and its response to land use change in Karst area

In order to clarify the response relationship between rocky desertification and land use under different lithology background in karst area. We obtained the land use distribution in 2005, 2010 and 2015 by using supervised classification, and then carried out superimposed analysis with the rocky desertification and lithology data in the same period. The result shows that woodland and shrubbery are mainly distributed on limestone interbedded with clastic rock, with an area of approximately 51.73 km². Grasslands and arable land are mainly distributed on continuous limestone and limestone interbedded with clastic rock. Rocky desertification area in the limestone interbedded with clastic rock is the largest, and extremely severe rocky desertification (ESKRD) of 6.70 km², due to the difference of lithologic types. Different levels of rocky desertification are correlated with different land use types and lithology types. The type of rocky desertification in forest land is mainly light rocky desertification (LKRD), contributing more than 40% of the area of rocky desertification, while the type of severe rocky desertification (SKRD) is mainly distributed in cultivated land, contributing more than 20% of the area of rocky desertification. In addition, due to the limited available resources in karst mountain areas, rocky desertification caused by human activities may also occur on non-carbonate rocks. We have emphasized the quantitative analysis of the response relationship between rocky desertification and land use at spatial grid scale, which is of great value for the location and treatment of rocky desertification in karst areas.