Title: An empirical investigation of biodiversity loss from threatened species perspective: a comparative study

Authors: Hui Li; Kyle Baumgartner; Guangming Li

Addresses: School of Mathematics, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B17 2TT, UK; Department of Economics, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL 61920, USA ' Department of Biological Sciences, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL 61920, USA ' Institute of Resources, Environment and Sustainable Development, School of Economics, Jinan University, 510632, China

Abstract: Using panel data for 113 countries over a three-year period of time, this research investigates the empirical relationship between the changes of threatened mammal species and economic development by comparing three different measures: 1) percentage changes; 2) species richness; 3) total threatened species. An N-shaped non-linear relationship is found when the dependent variable is the percentage changes; the Environment Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis is supported when species richness is applied and a non-linear relationship does exist for the total threatened species model. Results suggest that methodological differences, such as measurement, can bring very different results; caution should be exercised even when we evaluate EKC studies within a common topic such as, for instance, biodiversity loss from the threatened species perspective.

Keywords: biodiversity loss; environmental Kuznets curve; EKC; threatened species; mammal species; economic development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSOC.2013.056847

International Journal of Sustainable Society, 2013 Vol.5 No.4, pp.394 - 407

Published online: 22 Sep 2014 *

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