The rocky desertification habitat has a thin soil layer and is arid and barren. Many plants are sometimes difficult to survive. Akebia trifoliata is one of the species that can grow in rocky desertification habitats. Exploring its response mechanism to rocky desertification habitats has certain theoretical and practical significance for comprehensive management of rocky desertification habitats. In Huaxi District of Guiyang City and Guanling County of Anshun City, Guizhou Province, rocky desertification habitat and the common habitat (control) were selected to plant Akebia trifoliata and observed for one year. We explore the impact of rocky desertification habitat on the growth and physiological characteristics of different organs such as the roots, stems and leaves of Akebia trifoliata, and use principal component analysis to the main response indicators of Akebia trifoliata in the rocky desertification habitat. The results show that the Akebia trifoliata in the rocky desertification habitat exhibits the following characteristics than the common habitat (control):(1) the reduced biomass, such as shorter plants, thinner stems and fewer leaves, so as to adapt to the rocky desertification habitat; (2) leaf chlorophyll a/b (Chla/b) and relative water content (RWC) indicated a decreasing trend, so that the leaf net photosynthetic rate (Pn), transpiration rate (Tr), stomatal conductance (Gs) and water use efficiency (WUE) presented a downward trend, and the intercellular CO₂ concentration (Ci) had a rising trend, and then conducive to adapted to the rocky desertification habitat; (3) the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) and relative electrical conductivity (RC) of leaves showed an increasing trend, indicating that the rocky desertification habitat caused damage (oxidative damage and osmotic damage) to the cell membrane system of Akebia trifoliata. It protects against damage caused by oxidation by increasing the activities of catalase (CAT) in roots, peroxidase (POD) in stems and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in leaves. It protects against damage caused by osmotic pressure by increasing the content of osmotic adjustment substances such as soluble protein (SP) and proline (Pro); (4) principal component analysis showed that MDA, POD and SP play a major role in the response of Akebia trifoliata to rocky desertification. This study reveals the growth and physiological regulation mechanism of Akebia trifoliata in response to rocky desertification habitats, provides the theoretical basis for Akebia trifoliata's comprehensive management of rocky desertification habitats. Meantime, this study could further clarify the molecular mechanism of Akebia trifoliata resisting rocky desertification habitats, and provide a reference basis for improving its resistance to adversity.