Shark and ray provisioning: functional insights into behavioral, ecological and physiological responses across multiple scales

International audienceThe use of olfactory stimuli and the provision of food are a common practice toprompt artificial aggregations of emblematic wild species and ensure the economic viability of thewildlife-watching industry. Several elasmobranch species have been targeted by such operationsin a variety of locations for over 4 decades. A recent review succinctly addressed the potentialeffects of shark diving tourism, including shark provisioning, on shark individual behavior andecology, but the paucity of data on the ecology of elasmobranchs precluded general statements.By using a functional framework, we reviewed the findings of the 22 available studies that investigatedthe behavioral, physiological, and ecological response of 14 shark and 3 ray species targetedby artificial provisioning. Focusing on the underlying processes that rule the response of targetedelasmobranch species, we report further effects acting beyond the individual scale. Wesuggest that the most commonly described alterations of individual movement patterns have cascadingeffects through the group and community scales, ultimately resulting in altered health conditionand individual behavior toward humans. We conclude by stressing the potential for provisioningactivities to support the investigation of complex ecological and behavioral processes inelasmobranchs