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How will changing environmental drivers, such as a warming ocean and sea level rise, affect diverse coastal ecosystems over time? Can ecosystems perturbed by infrequent but major disruptions, such as hurricanes or oil spills, return to their pre-disturbance state? How will ocean acidification affect ecosystem functioning and biological processes in coastal systems? How do human activities interact with climate and environmental drivers over time? The National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) coastal sites are well positioned to contribute the scientific knowledge needed for informed decision making in tackling these questions and the challenges the answers may bring. Many of the coastal LTER science objectives address goals of the NSF-wide Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability (SEES) effort, providing an opportunity for the LTERs to increase the scope of their activities and to contribute to the growing climate, environment, and sustainability portfolio at NSF.