Can sustainable biocommerce continue to support conservation, or will the captive breeding of offspring be its Achilles heel?

The trade in high-value natural resources, particularly exotic plants and animals (henceforth biocommerce), can lead to both positive and negative impacts on wild populations. The exotic plant and animal hobbies are highly organized with internal cultures that are often poorly understood by non-members; however, understanding them is of central importance for biocommerce with both direct and indirect consequences for the conservation of wild populations.
Growing international demands for exotic species leaves simple questions related to the economics of biocommerce unexplored.  The long-term success of biocommerce businesses requires constant income, meaning they obtain and retain significant market proportions.  Some biocommerce products can be reproduced by hobbyists, and undercut business efforts based on sustainably produced exports.
We analyze a test case in Neotropical poison frogs where sustainable biocommerce is burgeoning, yet (export-based) businesses face direct market compet..., Survey design: We created an online survey on the SurveyMonkey.com© platform to assess consumer preferences and purchasing behaviors (human ethics approval granted from UDLA CEISH committee project code: JY-210423-001). Our questions aimed to identify specific customer preferences related to their hobby-related interests, purchasing decisions and price stability, and specifics related to the direct competition dynamics between biocommerce animals and their offspring in shared markets.  We assess whether broader ethics such as supporting conservation, legality, or sustainability could influence consumer decisions.  Three types of questions were used in the survey to be able to quantify consumer preferences (Hinsley & ’t Sas-Rolfes, 2020).  Multiple-choice questions contextualized the individual’s participation within the hobby with regards to the diversity of species kept, time in the hobby, and annual spending.  Additionally, questions with ranked importance (from 1-5) were used to ..., , # Data from: Can sustainable biocommerce continue to support conservation, or will the captive breeding of offspring be its Achilles heel?

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.zgmsbccmw](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.zgmsbccmw)

## Description of the data and file structure

Data are the survey responses by hobbyists however to protect their anonymity, all identifying information was removed including: IP addresses, names, business names, and emails have been redacted to ensure privacy. 

### Files and variables

#### File: Biocommerce raw data redacted info.xlsx

**Description:** 

##### Variables

Responses

#### File: Supplementary\_Preguntas\_artículo.pdf

**Description:** Survey questions

## Access information

Data was derived from the following sources:

* Survey Monkey questionnaireÂ