This was the first attempt to investigate the sediment yields of karst environment at the time scale of 100 a, and expected to improve our understanding of the evolution karst rocky desertification impacted by human activity. Taking Changjiawa depression and its watershed in Karst trough-valley area as the research object, the ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb_ex techniques were applied to calculate sediment yield intensity over the past 100 a. The results indicated that:(1) The average sediment deposition rate in the depression was 1.00 cm/a (1917-1963) and 0.25 cm/a (1963-2017), the average specific sediment yield (SSY) in the basin was 609 t/(km²·a) (1917-1963) and 152 t/(km²·a) (1963-2017); (2) The high values during 1917-1963 were related to the intense human activities in the region from the Republic of China to the early period of New China, especially the large-scale deforestation in the 1950s; (3) The sharp decreased values of 1963-2017 were due to the fact that the previous erosion had led to less soil and exposed local bedrock, combined with the vegetation recovery, the decrease of human activity intensity, and conservation measurements; (4) The intensity of sediment yield in Changjiawa basin was larger than that in other karst areas in southwest China, which was mainly related to lithology and human disturbance. Karst rocky desertification was not only the result of human disturbances in the last 50 years, but also related to human activities with nearly 100 years and even longer.