Behavioral responses to mammalian grazing expose insect herbivores to elevated risk of avian predation

Large mammalian herbivores (LMH) are important functional components and drivers of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in grasslands. Yet their role in regulating food web dynamics and trophic cascades remains poorly understood. In the temperate grasslands of northern China, we explored whether and how grazing domestic cattle (Bos taurus) alter the predator-prey interactions between a dominant grasshopper (Euchorthippus unicolor) and its avian predator the Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica). Using two large manipulative field experiments we found that in the presence of cattle, grasshoppers increased their jumping frequency threefold, swallows increased their foraging visits to these fields six-fold, and grasshopper density was reduced by about 50%. By manipulatively controlling the grasshopper ability to jump, we showed that jumping enables grasshoppers to avoid being incidentally consumed or trampled by cattle. However, it increased their consumption rates by swallows 37 folds compare..., , , # Behavioral responses to mammalian grazing expose insect herbivores to elevated risk of avian predation

we explored the three trophic interactions between cattle (Bos taurus), grasshopper (Euchorthippus unicolor) prey, and Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) predators in a temperate grassland in northeast China.
We first conducted a grazing experiment in the field to test the effects of livestock grazing on the jumping behavior and abundance of grasshoppers, and the visiting rate of swallows. We then manipulated the grasshopper ability to jump and tested whether the change in jumping behavior reduces the grasshopper probability to be killed by cattle, and increases their vulnerability to swallow predation.

## Description of the Data and file structure (column and explanation)

Here is a guide to each tab:

Tab: grazing_experiment

Column Explanation
Year： Year of data collection in 2021
Block： Experimental block within which grazing treatm...