Positioning axes labels

Question

How can I move the y axis label from the left to the right of the plot area and the x-axis label from below to above the plot area in the following graph? Thanks

xleft<-c(1,2,2.5)
xright<-c(2,2.5,2.75)
ybottom<-c(1,2,2.5)
ytop<-c(2,2.5,2.75)

par(mar = c(15,15,2.75,2.75) + 0.1)
plot(c(1,3),c(1,3),type="n",main="title",xlab="xlab-move me above plot",ylab="ylab-move me      right of plot",axes=F,asp=1)
axis(1,pos=1)
axis(2,pos=1)


rect(xleft,ybottom,xright,ytop,col=c("blue","red","green"))

#Label position along  axes
x.label.position<-(xleft+xright)/2
y.label.position<-(ybottom+ytop)/2

#Labels
x.label<-c("Long species Name1","Long species Name2","Long species Name3")
y.label<-c("Long species Name4","Long species Name5","Long species Name5")

text(par()$usr[1]-0.5,y.label.position,y.label,xpd=TRUE,adj=1)
text(y=par()$usr[3]-0.5,x=x.label.position,x.label,xpd=TRUE,adj=1,srt=90)

par(xpd=TRUE)
legend(-0.1,0,legend=c("Species A","Species B","Species C"),fill=c("blue", "red", "green"))

Obelize

By the way, this issue is exactly the reason of my comment to your previous question. – Uxorious

I still don't understand what you mean plannapus. How does changing the axes but not the plotting area cause problem for the x and y labels? – Obelize

You just moved the axis, not the limit of your plot: your labels are at a given distance from the limits of your plot not from the axes (Type box() after your axis call, to make the limits of the plot appear and you'll see what I mean). It is not a big issue however since Backlin's solution makes it work nonetheless. – Uxorious

AhI see what you mean no. Thanks for the lesson :) – Obelize

Answer 1

Ploting axes on the right and top sides of a plot

By default R will plot the x-axis below the plot area and the y-axis to the left of it. You can change this behaviour in this way:

plot(1:100, cumsum(rnorm(100)), type="l", axes=FALSE) # Do not plot any axes
axis(3)   # Draw the x-axis above the plot area
axis(4)   # Draw the y-axis to the right of the plot area
box()

To also move the labels you set ann=FALSE or xlab="", ylab="" and add them afterwards with mtext, where side=1 is bottom, 2 is left, 3 is top, 4 is right. line controls the distance from the plot area.

plot(1:100, cumsum(rnorm(100)), type="l", axes=FALSE, ann=FALSE)
axis(3)
box()
mtext("Top axis", side=3, line=3)

Changing distance between labels, ticks and plot area.

Use the mgp parameter to control these details, either before the call to plot, like this

par(mgp=c(axis.title.position, axis.label.position, axis.line.position))

or in the plot command itself, like this

plot(1:100, cumsum(rnorm(100)), type="l", mgp=c(2,1,.5), las=1)

Also note the las parameter that turns all tick labels horisontal, which makes them easier to read.

Predator

Tackar tackar! That worked great although I had to use line=-1 to get it change sides. Is it possible to 'flip' the axis ticks and associated numbering in a similar way? I can post a new question if you feel this is a different question. Thanks again – Obelize

The las parameter controls rotation of tick labels, mtext and various other text related things. Use plot(..., las=1) to make all tick labels horizontal. This is indeed a very good idea, it makes the graph much easier to read. – Predator

hmmm...sorry I think my question may have been unclear. I want to move the tick mark and number to above and to the right of the plot area. The las command is for just rotating text relative to the axis..I want to move the axes to the opposites side of the plot. – Obelize

Oh, that I have no idea about. Never even seen an R plot like that. – Predator