A decision support tool using an open-source methodology for identifying Woody encroachment and Juniper species vulnerability in the Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma, USA

As a result of 20th century farming practices, fire suppression, grazing pressures, federal agriculture policies, drought, and related factors, juniper trees have experienced a dramatic increase in abundance across the Great Plains region, including millions of acres in Oklahoma. This invasive vegetation poses a significant threat to the environment, soil health, cultural resources, and economies within the Cross Timbers region of the Chickasaw Nation in south-central Oklahoma. To combat these negative impacts, the Chickasaw Nation (CN) has undertaken a proactive approach to evaluate the extent of juniper encroachment within the CN treaty territory (CNTT) and to use this information to make an economic case to landowners for the implementation of both prescribed burns and juniper removal in general. This article describes the creation of a species-focused evaluation methodology, model, and decision-support tool, called the Juniper Evaluation Tool (JET), that is simple, open-source, and ..., , # Data from: A decision support tool using an open-source methodology for identifying Woody encroachment and Juniper species vulnerability in the Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma, USA

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.31zcrjf1s](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.31zcrjf1s)

## Description of the data and file structure

**A.** Download the **Ecology_Evolution_Manuscript_Files.zip** folder and extract all files, which include one folder and 24 individual files.

The following is a description of all the files extracted from the Ecology_Evolution_Manuscript_Files.zip folder:

**FOLDER**

**1. FINAL Validation Data**

This folder contains the shapefile (and associated files) of all the validation data used for the model accuracy assessment. It can be opened in QGIS, ArcGIS Pro or any other spatial analysis program that can handle shapefiles. A Universal Transverse Mercator projection in zone 14 and the 1983 North American Datum was used for the shapefile.

The landcover types for the 1, 443 validation po...,