<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/TitTitBird.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273" srcset="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/TitTitBird.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273 400w, https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/TitTitBird.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551 800w" > A new studies looks at animals' ability to adapt to climate change, in particular common birds. (Bernard Castelein via The Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V.)

At a Glance The study looked mostly at common birds, as opposed to species already endangered.

Animals adjust to things like migratory and reproduction habits in response to climate change.

Many species can survive in a changing environment, but only if they adapt quickly enough. Some animals aren't adapting fast enough to climate change and may not be able to survive the effects of global warming, according to a new study.

An international team of 64 researchers combed through more than 10,000 previously published scientific studies to determine how quickly animals change things like migratory and reproduction habits in response to climate change. The results were published this week in the journal Nature Communications.

“Personally I find the results alarming ," Viktoriia Radchuk of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Germany and a lead researcher on the study, told The Guardian.

(MORE: Canada to Airlift Salmon Past a Massive Landslide So They Can Spawn)

Typically, animals will change their survival habits to adapt to climate change. For example, they might migrate earlier if temperatures are higher than normal. Radchuk said the study showed that many species can't make those changes fast enough in a world where climate change has environments in rapid flux.

"Species attempt to adapt to changing environment, but they cannot do it at a sufficient pace to ensure that populations are viable," she said. "Climate change has caused irreversible damage to our biodiversity already, as evidenced by the findings of this study. The fact that species struggle to adapt to the current rate of climate change means we have to take action immediately in order to at least halt or decrease the rate.”

The study looked mostly at common birds, as opposed to species already endangered, because that's where the most data was available, according to a press release from The Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V., a German research institute. Researchers said they were surprised to find that species that normally adapt well, in particular common birds, could not keep up with climate change.

“It’s likely that species even less accustomed to human environments may be struggling even more ," Alexandre Courtiol, another study author from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, told The Independent. "I don’t think this picture is going to get much better for birds or mammals."