MFreg: Calculate Multifunctionality Regularity (MFreg)

In emf: Ecosystem Multifunctionality: Richness, Divergence, and Regularity

Calculate Multifunctionality Regularity (MFreg)

Description

This function calculates the Multifunctionality Regularity (MFreg) for each row in a dataset. MFreg quantifies the evenness of ecosystem function distribution using a normalized Shannon entropy index. Higher values indicate more even distribution of functions, while lower values suggest dominance by fewer functions.

Usage

MFreg(data, weights = NULL)

Arguments

data	A numeric data frame or matrix where rows represent observations (e.g., sites, plots) and columns represent different ecosystem functions. Function values should be non-negative.
weights	A numeric vector of weights for each function (column) in the data. If NULL (default), equal weights of 1 are assigned to all functions. The length of the weights vector must match the number of columns in data.

Details

Multifunctionality Regularity (MFreg) quantifies the evenness of function distribution in an ecosystem. It is calculated as:

MFreg = \frac{-\sum_{i=1}^{n}\frac{w_i f_i}{\sum_{i=1}^{n}w_i f_i}\ln{\frac{w_i f_i}{\sum_{i=1}^{n}w_i f_i}}}{\ln(n)}

where fi represents the normalized performance level of function i, wi is the weight of function i, and n is the total number of functions examined.

Value

A data frame with a single column named "MFreg" containing the calculated Multifunctionality Regularity values for each row in the input data. Row names are preserved from the input data if available.

Note

• Functions with zero or negative weighted contributions (w_i f_i \leq 0) are automatically excluded from calculations

• If all weighted function values in a row are \leq 0, the result will be NaN

• Natural logarithm (ln) is used in the calculations

• The function assumes input data represents normalized or standardized function values

Examples

# Example with sample data
data <- data.frame(
  func1 = c(0.5, 0.3, 0.2),
  func2 = c(0.2, 0.4, 0.4),
  func3 = c(0.3, 0.3, 0.4)
)
rownames(data) <- c("Site1", "Site2", "Site3")

# Calculate MFreg with equal weights
MFreg(data)

# Calculate MFreg with custom weights (emphasizing func2)
MFreg(data, weights = c(1, 2, 1))

emf documentation built on Jan. 8, 2026, 5:10 p.m.