Does an environmental Kuznets curve exist for biodiversity?

Within the past ten years, environmental economics has witnessed the development of a theory that has stirred up considerable controversy. The environmental Kuznets hypothesis predicts negative environmental impact first increases with rising income and then decreases. A wealth of indicators have been used to test this claim but one of the most important global environmental quantities, biodiversity, has remained untouched. The purpose of this study is thus to pose the question, is there an environmental Kuznets curve for biodiversity?