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Because the karst critical zone is an important part of the Earth Critical Zone system, the vegetation in karst area is an important carbon sink of terrestrial ecosystem, and the aboveground part of the vegetation in the karst area sequestrates carbon through plant growth, the carbon storage in the underground part is also very considerable, the growth of underground biomass and decomposition of litter also increase soil organic carbon and inorganic carbon content. Therefore, vegetation carbon cycle in karst area is one of the hotspots of karst carbon sink research. Based on the reviewing of research literature on carbon sequestration of karst vegetation in the past 40 years, this paper expounds the unique physiological characteristics of karst vegetation in Southwest China, and focuses on the following four aspects; (1) Evaluation of vegetation biomass, productivity and carbon storage in karst area of Southwest China; (2) Temporal and spatial variation patterns of vegetation and carbon source and sink effect in karst area of Southwest China; (3) Special mechanism of vegetation carbon utilization in karst area; (4) Prediction of vegetation carbon cycle model and carbon sink potential in karst area. The problems existing in the current research am put forward, and the future research direction is prospected. It is proposed that the future research should be carried out in the aspects of systematic determination of relevant parameters and mechanism process of vegetation carbon cycle in karst area, fine identification of vegetation landscape types in southwest karst area, quantification of carbon sequestration process, and correction and modification of karst vegetation carbon cycle model. This paper provides a reference for in-depth understanding the temporal and spatial evolution of carbon cycle in karst region and for exploring regional carbon cycle mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]