Environmental challenges early in development can result in complex phenotypic trade-offs and long-term effects on individual physiology, performance, and behavior, with implications for disease and predation risk. We examined the effects of simulated pond-drying and elevated water temperatures on development, growth, thermal physiology, and behavior in a widespread North American amphibian, the Southern leopard frog, Rana sphenocephala. Tadpoles were raised in outdoor mesocosms under warming and drying regimes based on projected climatic conditions in 2070. We predicted that amphibians experiencing the rapid pond drying and elevated pond temperatures associated with climate change would accelerate development, be smaller at metamorphosis and demonstrate long-term differences in physiology and exploratory behavior post-metamorphosis. While both drying and warming accelerated development and reduced survival to metamorphosis, only drying resulted in smaller animals at metamorphosis. At approximately one month post-metamorphosis, animals from the control (ambient no-drying) treatment jumped relatively farther at high temperatures in jumping trials. In addition, across all treatments, frogs with shorter larval periods had lower critical thermal minima and maxima. We also found evidence that developing under warming and drying resulted in a less exploratory behavioral phenotype, and that drying, but not warming, resulted in warmer thermal preferences. Furthermore, behavior predicted thermal preference, with less exploratory animals selecting higher temperatures. Our results underscore the multi-faceted effects of early developmental environments on behavioral and physiological phenotypes later in life. For example, thermal preferences can influence disease risk through behavioral thermoregulation, and exploratory behavior may increase risk of predation or pathogen encounter. By impacting thermal physiology, behavior, and various physiological traits, climatic stressors during development may mediate amphibian exposure and susceptibility to predators and pathogens into adulthood.

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