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9 Abstract Climate change can result in a slow disappearance of forests dominated by less 10 drought-tolerant native European beech (Fagus sylvatica) and oak species (Quercus spp.) 11 and further area expansion of more drought-tolerant non-native black locust (Robinia 12 pseudoacacia) against those species in Hungary. We assumed that the shift in plant species 13 composition was modified by selective ungulate browsing. Thus, we investigated which 14 woody species are selected by browsing game. We have collected data on the species 15 composition of the understory and the browsing impact on it in five different Hungarian 16 even-aged forests between 2003 and 2005. Based on these investigations the non-native 17 Robinia pseudoacacia living under more favourable climatic conditions was generally 18 preferred (Jacobs' selectivity index: D = 0.04 ± 0.77), while the native Fagus sylvatica 19 and Quercus spp. (Q. petraea, Q. robur), both more vulnerable to increasing aridity, were 20 avoided (D =-0.37 ± 0.11; -0.79 ± 0.56; -0.9 ± 0.16; respectively) among target tree 21 species. However, economically less or not relevant species, e.g. elderberry (Sambucus 22 spp.), blackberry (Rubus spp.) or common dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) were the most 23 preferred species (D = 0.01 ± 0.71; -0.12 ± 0.58; -0.2 ± 0.78, respectively). Our 24 results imply that biodiversity conservation, i.e. maintaining or establishing a multi-species 25 understory layer, can be a good solution to reduce the additional negative game impact on 26 native target tree species suffering from drought. Due to preference for Robinia pseudo-27 acacia selective browsing can decelerate the penetration of this species into native forest 28 habitats. We have to consider the herbivorous pressure of ungulates and their feeding 29 preferences in planning our future multifunctional forests in the light of climate change 30 impacts.

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Microsatellites are widely applied in population and forensic genetics, wildlife studies and parentage testing in animal breeding, among others, and recently, high-throughput sequencing technologies have greatly facilitated the identification of microsatellite markers. In this study the genomic data of Cervus elaphus (CerEla1.0) was exploited, in order to identify microsatellite loci along the red deer genome and for designing the cognate primers. The bioinformatics pipeline identified 982,433 microsatellite motifs genome-wide, assorted along the chromosomes, from which 45,711 loci mapped to the X- and 1096 to the Y-chromosome. Primers were successfully designed for 170,873 loci, and validated with an independently developed autosomal tetranucleotide STR set. Ten X- and five Y-chromosome-linked microsatellites were selected and tested by two multiplex PCR setups on genomic DNA samples of 123 red deer stags. The average number of alleles per locus was 3.3, and the average gene diversity value of the markers was 0.270. The overall observed and expected heterozygosities were 0.755 and 0.832, respectively. Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) ranged between 0.469 and 0.909 per locus with a mean value of 0.813. Using the X- and Y-chromosome linked markers 19 different Y-chromosome and 72 X-chromosome lines were identified. Both the X- and the Y-haplotypes split to two distinct clades each. The Y-chromosome clades correlated strongly with the geographic origin of the haplotypes of the samples. Segregation and admixture of subpopulations were demonstrated by the use of the combination of nine autosomal and 16 sex chromosomal STRs concerning southwestern and northeastern Hungary. In conclusion, the approach demonstrated here is a very efficient method for developing microsatellite markers for species with available genomic sequence data, as well as for their use in individual identifications and in population genetics studies.