Towards Achieving Carbon Neutrality: The Role of Vegetation Restoration in Karst Regions of Southwest China

Karst regions of Southwest China become a hotspot for global greening through large-scale vegetation restoration in recent two decades.However, the unique, fragile geological setting of carbonate rocks affects the sustainability of vegetation greening.Here, we summarize and evaluate the impacts of the rock and soil compositions of karst landscapes on the types and quality of vegetation restoration.We introduce the concept of "soil mass" and establish its relationship with aboveground vegetation biomass across varying degrees of rocky desertification.The mineral nutrients and soil mass constrain the potential of vegetation carbon sequestration in karst regions.To enhance the sustainability of vegetation restoration and carbon sequestration under karst geological constraints, we suggest to push ecological intensification of tree plantations and optimize the zoning and classification of rocky desertification treatment, and these restoration initiatives will foster vegetation restoration to serve as a pivotal pathway towards carbon neutrality.