Abstract
Research on regional soil erosion under global climate change has attracted widespread attention.
Soil erosion in Guizhou Province, China, is severe due to the presence of extensively developed karst
formations, making it a major local ecological issue. In this context, the present study aims to calculate
the soil erosion modulus in Guizhou Province using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE)
and to assess its spatiotemporal variation characteristics. In addition, the relationships between soil
erosion and rainfall and vegetation coverage from 2000 to 2020 were further explored in this study.
The results showed that: (1) From 2000 to 2020, soil erosion in Guizhou Province was at low levels.
There was a significant linear increase in the average annual soil erosion modulus, with a change rate
of 0.0001 t/(hm²·a) (P<0.05). (2) The conversion between the different soil erosion levels over the study
period was generally manifested as a shift from low-level erosion (very slight, slight, and moderate
erosion) to high-level erosion (severe, very severe, and extremely severe erosion). Specifically, from
2000 to 2010, high-level erosion tended to shift to low-level erosion. From 2010 to 2020, on the other
hand, low-level erosion shifted to high-level erosion. (3) Rainfall was the dominant factor affecting soil
erosion changes in Guizhou Province from 2000 to 2020, while improvements in vegetation conditions
played a major role in reducing the soil erosion modulus.