I am a postdoc within the DynaCom excellence group studying spatial community ecology in a highly dynamic coastal landscape. This group builds on the experience of the BEFmate project. Using a trait-based approach, we aim to disentangle how various ecological drivers interact in salt marsh metacommunities. At this stage we are focusing on the dispersal and competition mechanisms, but also on biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning. I am responsible for the coordination and maintenance of a large-scale experiment of twelve artificial islands off the coast of Spiekeroog in the Wadden Sea.

My current research focuses on salt marsh communities, but I continue to have a broad interest in landscape ecology, biodiversity, and species distribution patterns. During my PhD research, I focused on the colonisation ecology of forest species and the conservation value of historic manor parks in Estonia.

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Peer-reviewed publications:

Zielinski, O., Meier, D., Lõhmus, K., Balke, T., Kleyer, M. 2018. Environmental conditions of a salt-marsh biodiversity experiment on the island of Spiekeroog (Germany). Earth System Science Data 10: 1843-1858.

Kütt,L., Paal, T., Lõhmus, K., Rammi, I.-J., Zobel, K., Liira, J. 2018. Multi‐user quality of floral services along a gradient of margin habitats between semi‐natural grasslands and forests. Applied Vegetation Science 21: 363-372.

Balke, T., Lõhmus, K., Hillebrand, H., Zielinski, O., Haynert, K., Meier, D., Hodapp, D., Minden, V., Kleyer, M. 2017. Experimental salt marsh islands: A model system for novel metacommunity experiments. Estuarine, Costal and Shelf Science 198: 288-298.

Paal, T., Kütt, L., Lõhmus, K., Liira, J. 2017. Both spatiotemporal connectivity and habitat quality limit the immigration of forest plants into wooded corridors. Plant Ecology 218: 417-431.

Kütt, L., Lõhmus, K., Rammi, I.-J., Paal, T., Paal, J., Liira, J. 2016. The quality of flower-based ecosystem services in field margins and road verges from human and insect pollinator perspectives. Ecological Indicators 70: 409-419.

Kalda, R., Kalda, O., Lõhmus, K., Liira, J. 2015. Multi-scale ecology of woodland bat: the role of species pool, landscape complexity and stand structure. Biodiversity and Conservation 24: 337-353.

Lõhmus, K., Paal, T., Liira, J. 2014. Long-term colonization ecology of forest-dwelling species in a fragmented rural landscape – dispersal versus establishment. Ecology and Evolution 4: 3133-3126.

Lõhmus, K., Liira, J. 2013. Old rural parks support higher biodiversity than forest remnants. Basic and Applied Ecology 14: 165-173.

Liira, J., Lõhmus, K., Tuisk, E. 2012. Old manor parks as potential habitats for forest flora in agricultural landscapes of Estonia. Biological Conservation 146: 144-154.