ObjectiveTo explore the spatial and temporal evolution of soil erosion in Anshun City, southwest karst region, as well as the main controlling factors of soil erosion, and to master the soil erosion situation in the region, in order to help the management of rocky desertification and soil and water resources management in the region.MethodsThe optimised RUSLE model was used to estimate soil erosion in Anshun City from 2005 to 2020, while the Random Forest Model (RF) was used to reveal the driving factors of soil erosion, and to estimate the effects of the interactions between the driving factors on soil erosion in Anshun City from 2005 to 2020.Results1) From 2005 to 2020, soil erosion in Anshun City generally showed that low intensity soil erosion was distributed in the central, southeastern and eastern regions, while high intensity soil erosion was distributed in the northern and southwestern regions. In terms of time, soil erosion in Anshun City as a whole showed a trend of improvement, soil erosion grade in most of the areas mainly transferred from high to micro intensity erosion, but the erosion exacerbated in some areas. 2) Rocky desertification had a greater impact on soil erosion in Anshun City, and the change trend of rocky desertification was consistent with that of soil erosion. Soil erosion increased first and then decreased with the increase of rocky desertification intensity. 3) The most important land use types in Anshun City where soil erosion occured were forest land, arable land and grassland, and the overall rate of soil erosion was in the order of forest land < grassland < arable land, with cropland having a higher risk of soil and water runoff. 4) The analysis of the driving factors of soil erosion showed that that the vegetation cover and management factor, the factor of soil and water conservation measures and the intensity of rock desertification were the main driving factors. The results of the interactions between the driving factors showed that the interaction between the vegetation cover and management factors and the soil and water conservation measures were the dominant factors.ConclusionSoil erosion intensity in Anshun City showed an overall trend of improvement from 2005 to 2020, but there was an increase in erosion in some areas, with high intensity soil erosion being mainly located in the north and southwest areas with high human activity. Vegetation cover, land use and rock desertification intensity are the main influencing factors of soil erosion, while rock desertification control and soil and water conservation measures can better increase vegetation cover and improve soil erosion in Anshun City.