Climate Change Clouds Recovery of Fox Squirrel, Other Species

Matt Whitbeck saw a great blue heron wading in water along a scenic road through eastern Maryland’s Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge and hit the brake.

Whitbeck, the refuge’s wildlife biologist, was at the wheel of a US Fish and Wildlife Service SUV on a crisp December morning, scanning the forest for Delmarva fox squirrels.

“You can see the ghost forest,” Whitbeck said. “You can see some of the trees are still alive, but they’re not long for this world.”

The heron stood in water that pooled just inches from the paved road, a more common occurrence as the Chesapeake Bay ...