西南喀斯特地区是我国因水土流失导致生态环境问题严重而研究相对薄弱的地区。从侵蚀特征、不同空间尺度土壤侵蚀研究进展及研究中的关键问题3个方面系统总结了该地区土壤侵蚀研究成果，在此基础上，提出现有研究中存在的不足以及未来土壤侵蚀研究方向。结果表明：①在独特的地质水文背景下，喀斯特地区形成地表地下二元结构，导致地表侵蚀与地下侵蚀并存，在此基础上形成了复杂的坡面产流产沙过程和流域汇流输沙过程。②目前喀斯特地区土壤侵蚀机理研究多集中在坡面尺度，在土壤侵蚀影响因子定量评价上取得了丰硕成果；小流域水沙关系的连续高精度监测资料较少；资料不足时，河流泥沙可作为研究喀斯特地区土壤侵蚀强弱及时空分异特征的有效途径。③以50 t/(km2·a)作为允许土壤流失量较以前的土壤侵蚀强度分级标准更为合理；石漠化与土壤侵蚀关系复杂，仍需进一步定量研究石漠化对土壤侵蚀的影响；目前对土壤漏失界定、漏失机理和比例等问题未形成统一认识，多方法组合、多尺度匹配是揭示漏失的可靠途径。总之，为进一步探明喀斯特地区土壤侵蚀规律，建立和完善适用于该地区的土壤侵蚀预报模型，迫切需要在坡面—流域—河道尺度上开展同步试验和监测，追踪泥沙来源，从而为推进西南喀斯特地区水土保持工作提供理论和技术支撑。

The karst area of Southwest China is suffering from serious ecological and environmental problems due to soil erosion, while the research on soil erosion is not sufficient. Primary achievement had been systematically reviewed in this paper in three aspects: erosion characteristics, current researches about erosion on different spatial scales, key scientific problems. Based on the review, the authors figured out the shortcomings of the existing studies and pointed out the directions on erosion study in southwest karst region. The results showed that: (1) Due to the existence of a dual structure in karst environment including ground and underground erosion, the process of runoff and sediment production on slope scale and confluence and sediment transportation processes on catchment scale were more complex under the unique geological and hydrological backgrounds; (2) At present, most researches about erosion mechanism in karst area focused on slope scale and some achievement on quantitative evaluation of erosion factors was made. While continuous data with high quality about relationship between water and sediment on catchment scale was limited. When data was scarce, river sediment data could be used as an effective way to study soil erosion intensity and spatial and temporal variation in karst area; (3) It is more reasonable to use 50 t/(km2·a) as the grading standard of soil loss tolerance than the previous grading standard of soil erosion intensity. Given the complex relationship between rocky desertification and soil erosion, more quantitative studies about the effects of rocky desertification on soil erosion were still necessary. There were different viewpoints on soil leakage definitions, the leakage mechanism and soil leakage ratios, and new breakthroughs could be achieved by combining different methods and matching multi-scales. In conclusion, in order to further reveal the soil erosion laws and establish and revise available regional soil erosion forecasting models for Southwest karst areas, synchronous test and monitoring on slope, watershed, and channel spatial scales were urgently needed. The results could provide theoretical and technical support for promoting soil and water conservation works for the karst area of Southwest China.