I did not post this question to the ecology list, even though it is about an analysis using Vegan, since my question is based more on basic data manipulation in R. I think this is a fairly simple question but for the life of me I cannot find a reference for in the archives. I have an analysis using a matrix in which I needed to strip the ID variable off the input data to run the analysis. Now I want to reattach the ID back to the results matrix but I can't seem to find a way to join the ID back. Below is the exact input I'm using, row 9 is where I strip the Site_ID value from the input data. library(vegan) library(reshape) csv_base <- read.csv("c:/temp/cvs_export.csv", header=T, as.is=T) csv_basef <- subset(csv_base, Site_Id >= 1) testm <- melt(csv_basef, id = 1:4, measure = 5) test <- cast(testm, Site_Id ~ Element_Id, sum) dim(test) names(test) csv.data <- test[,c(-1)] csv.m <- as.matrix(csv.data,) dimnames(csv.m) <- list(test$site_id, names(csv.data)) csv.dis <- vegdist(csv.m, "jaccard",binary="TRUE",diag="FALSE", upper="TRUE") x <- as.matrix(csv.dis,) triang <- x[row(x) > col(x)] xt <- as.matrix(triang,) condense <- cbind(row= as.vector(row(x)), col=as.vector(col(x)), value=as.vector(x)) write.csv(condense, "c:/temp/sim_out.csv", row.names = FALSE) In my process I use the Site_ID, ElementId, and the Area variables (line 6). The 1st few lines of the input data are of the format: Site_Id,Element_Name,Occurence_Identifier,Element_Id,Area,Cell_Count,Min_Condition,Avg_Conditon,Max_Condition,Summed_Conditon 0,Bosques y arbustales inundables,16,225,27,27,0.200000003,0.200000003,0.200000003,5.40000008 0,Bosques y arbustales inundables,17,225,6,6,0.200000003,0.200000003,0.200000003,1.200000018 1,Arbustales sabanas en piedemonte,83,187,85,85,0.400000006,0.400000006,0.400000006,34.00000051 1,Arbustales sabanas en lomerio quebrado,28,194,15,15,0.400000006,0.400000006,0.400000006,6.000000089 2,Arbustales sabanas en piedemonte,83,187,55,55,0.400000006,0.400000006,0.400000006,22.00000033 3,Arbustales sabanas en piedemonte,83,187,1,1,0.400000006,0.400000006,0.400000006,0.400000006 5,Arbustales sabanas en piedemonte,89,187,14,14,0.400000006,0.400000006,0.400000006,5.600000083 In my analysis I rotate the data to a matrix, and then complete the analysis w/o the Site_Id variable: [1] "Site_Id" "187" "190" "194" "203" "211" "213" [8] "215" "217" "219" "221" "225" "227" "230" [15] "232" "234" "237" My output table is pretty straight forward: "row","col","value" 1,1,0 2,1,0.45 3,1,0.99 4,1,0.86 5,1,1 6,1,1 7,1,1 8,1,1 9,1,1 10,1,1 11,1,0.57 12,1,0.61 The issue is how to I put the actual Site_Id value back into my results? In this case row 1, col 1 would be site 0, row 2, col 1 would be site 1, ... so on and so forth. Thanks for any direction that might be offered. -Jon *********************************************************** John Hak Senior GIS Analyst/Ecologist NatureServe - A Network Connecting Science with Conservation 4001 Discovery Drive, Suite 2110 Boulder, CO 80303 (703) 797-4809 Skype: jon.hak ΓΌ Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail [[alternative HTML version deleted]]