International trade and biodiversity: Is export a species killer?

Species diversity has continuously been experiencing deterioration in the world that is widely connected with global trade. Previous studies have identified the impact of specific traded commodities on species diversity, but little evidence of causality from overall exports has been found. Using two-stage least-squares method with an instrument variable (IV-2SLS) and province-level panel data during 1978–2020, this paper explores the biological costs of international trade by investigating the impact of exports from China on domestic species diversity. We also examine the mechanisms through which exports affect species diversity and how heterogeneous factors cause differences on loss of species diversity. Results suggest that a 1% increase in export scale decreases species diversity by 2.28%. We also find that resource exploitation, infrastructure construction and land use are three major channels. Additionally, the provinces with more alien invasive species (over 450) or with higher dependence on exporting leather and textiles (over 16%) may suffer over 4% of species diversity loss per 1% of export scale. Moreover, the loss of plants is 2.43%, which is 0.83% higher than that of animals. Our transdisciplinary work is expected to be helpful for policy makers who pursue dual goals of export development and biodiversity protection.