Using self–organizing maps and machine learning models to assess mollusc community structure in relation to physicochemical variables in a West Africa river–estuary system

The poor understanding of changes in mollusc ecology along rivers, especially in West Africa, hampers the implementation of management measures. We used a self–organizing map, indicator species analysis, linear discriminant analysis and a random forest model to distinguish mollusc assemblages, to determine the ecological preferences of individual mollusc species and to associate major physicochemical variables with mollusc assemblages and...