ENSO episodes modify plant/terrestrial-herbivore interactions in a southwestern Atlantic salt marsh

► Extrinsic drivers such as ENSO have direct and indirect effects on marsh community. ► Plant distributions respond directly through changes in salt stress - and indirectly (through changes in plant-herbivore interactions). ► Herbivores respond indirectly through changes in plant food quality. ► Thus, ENSO modulates the relative importance of top-down and bottom-up effects.