Climate warming and changing precipitation regimes are affecting mountains at a faster pace than other terrestrial habitats globally. Cold adapted species in these regions are at the forefront of this change. While the microclimate they experience (and often create) can act as a buffer, their physiologic response to these changes remains contradictory. The opposite effects of warming and drought on productivity and photosynthetic efficiency highlight the potential complexity of a long-term response in these systems. Using a global meta-analysis of climate manipulation experiments, we explore the eco-physiological resilience of grassland and meadow species to shifting temperature and precipitation regimes. By analyzing relative changes in key physiological metrics—including photosynthetic efficiency, stomatal conductance, and productivity—our study assesses how functional types respond to environmental change and whether certain growth forms may be more buffered by microclimatic variability. We synthesize over 100 observations from 20 studies to explore the driving physiological factors of the productivity responses observed. Our results will provide insight into how microclimates may mediate species performance and contribute to forecasting vegetation shifts in a warming world. By linking physiological responses to broader ecological trends, we highlight the importance of integrating fine-scale climatic variation into predictions of alpine biodiversity resilience.