Karst rocky desertification is the most seriously ecological and geological problem in southwestern China, which severely restricts the economic and social development of karst areas. As one of the main parts of rocky desertification research, the evolution process of rocky desertification not only reflects the changes of regionally ecological environment, but also affects the social and economic development of the region. The research on reconstruction of paleoenvironment in Chongqing is mainly focused on the change of climate itself, rarely involving the change of regionally ecological environment. The research on the evolutionary pattern of ecological environment in the past 1000 years has rarely been reported. As one of the most direct and reliable indicators of paleoenvironment and paleovegetation, spores and pollen play an irreplaceable role in correctly understanding and recovering the past climate and environmental changes. The depressions in karst areas are ideal places for studying regionally environmental changes. The sediment records provide abundant information including vegetation succession, climate change, human activities, and environmental changes. Therefore, in this study, we chose the karst depression area of Zhongliang Mountain as our study area and documented its vegetation changes and rocky desertification evolution during the past 700 years in terms of spores and pollen analysis, AMS ¹⁴C dating, and detailed historical literature. The results showed that the subtropical evergreen coniferous forests were dominated by Pinus, Cupressaceae/Taxodiaceae with a small amount of pollen of anthropogenic plants during the 1274-1553 cal a AD, which reflected relatively weak human activities. Conversely, during the 1553-1780 cal a AD, Pinus, Cupressaceae/Taxodiaceae overall declined while the pollen of anthropogenic plants increased, indicating that the human activities had begun to strengthen. During the 1780-1840 cal a AD, the pollen content of Pinus decreased sharply, while the pollen content of shrubs as well as anthropogenic plants increased sharply, which was consistent with the intensification of human activities and the occurrence of rocky desertification. During the 1840-2000 cal a AD, the significant increase of Zea mays pollen content indicated that human activities and rocky desertification were further intensified. The increasing human activity in the past 700 years was an important factor in vegetation degradation and serious rocky desertification in Chongqing. The results of this study are significant to improve the comprehensive management, restoration and reconstruction of the naturally ecological environment in Chongqing karst area.