Phosphorus is an essential element for plant growth. It is taken up from the soil where it is found in two main forms, organic phosphorus and inorganic phosphorus. In cultivated soils, inorganic phosphorus is the main form found. Phosphorus is very active chemically in soils. Mineral phosphorus added to cultivated soils in fertilizer is readily fixed, which results in low availability of phosphate. Furthermore, the availability of inorganic phosphorus is different in different inorganic phosphorus fractions. The fractionation of inorganic phosphorus allows us to understand the geochemical behavior of inorganic phosphorus and measure the potential availability of the soil phosphorus pool. Limestone soils are typical azonal soils, which are formed from a parent material of carbonate rock and are typically characterized by high concentrations of calcium. This property strongly influences the geochemical behavior of inorganic phosphorus.To analyze the characteristics of soil inorganic phosphorus in areas with different patterns of vegetation recovery in karst rocky areas, and evaluate the potential capacity of different fractions to provide phosphorus and the roles of organic carbon and calcium in the process of inorganic phosphorus transformation in karst areas, we studied the characteristics of inorganic phosphorus in these areas by applying the Jiangbofan method for fractionating inorganic phosphorus. This allowed an investigation of the factors influencing the transformation of inorganic phosphorus in eight representative types of land. Concentrations of total and available phosphorus in the soils ranged from 0.25-1.35 g/kg and 1.05-53.01 mg/kg, respectively. Total inorganic phosphorus contents ranged from 123.94-934.61mg/kg and it was the main form in the study area. The concentrations of total phosphorus, available phosphorus and inorganic phosphorus fractions showed significant differences between cultivated land and abandoned land, and also among the abandoned lands. By comparison with secondary Masson pine woodland, phosphorus concentrations in cultivated lands showed an accumulation process, whereas abandoned lands showed a consumption process. Phosphorus concentrations in abandoned lands were higher than in secondary Masson pine woodland and lower than in cultivated land. In abandoned lands, the Peach land and Pepper land had the highest phosphorus concentrations, followed by Camphor tree land, Cryptomeria land, ruderal land, and scrubland which had the lowest concentrations of phosphorus. The proportion of inorganic phosphorus to total phosphorus ranged from 51.2%-72.4% in different soil profiles. Concentrations of inorganic phosphorus fractions followed the order: O-P > Fe-P > Ca-P > Al-P, with Ca₂-P and Al-P providing the highest contribution to available phosphorus, Fe-P providing a lower contribution, and the contributions of Ca₈-P, O-P and Ca₁₀-P being the lowest. Soil organic carbon of different active levels and different calcium fractions play important roles in the transformation of inorganic phosphorus, whereas pH, bulk density, clay content, water content, and other soil physical and chemical properties have a lesser impact. TOC, LOC, and DOC were significantly or very significantly positively correlated with Ca₂-P, Al-P, Fe-P, and Ca₈-P, significantly negatively correlated with O-P, and showed no significant correlation with Ca₁₀-P. Soil total calcium, exchangeable calcium were significantly or very significantly negatively correlated with Ca₂-P, Al-P, Fe-P, and positively correlated with Ca₁₀-P. Soil pH, bulk density, clay content, water content showed no significant correlation with fractions of inorganic phosphorus.