In south‐east Asia, during Quaternary glaciations, increased seasonality and sea level decreases of ~120 m caused considerable fragmentation of the rainforest. It is believed that most of the region's core was covered with savannah vegetation, and rainforest was confined to a few refugia. We investigated the geographical extent of the savannah vegetation and the positions of the refugia, using a combination of palynonlogical, geological, fossil and termite data. Our results show that during the Last Glacial Maximum, most of Thailand, Peninsula Malaysia, western and southern Borneo, eastern and southern Sumatra, and Java were probably covered by savannah. Rainforest refugia were probably present in northern and eastern Borneo, northern and western Sumatra and the Mentawai islands. We also discuss a possible complete history of the region. © 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2002, 75, 453–466.

In 1998 a survey was made of the termites of the Leuser Ecosystem (in Sumatra, Indonesia), which includes a substantial area (c. 1 million ha) of unbroken primary rain forest. Nine sites and an altitudinal gradient were sampled. Altitude had a significant effect on species richness, which declines with even a 100-m increase in altitude. Species composition too was significantly affected by altitude. Functionally, only termites in one feeding group (II, which forage outside of their nests) were significantly affected by altitude. A mid-altitude termite species assemblage was evident. Longitude also significantly affected species composition; Macrotermitinae were numerous on the western side of the Ecosystem and Termitinae and Nasutitermitinae more numerous to the east of it. This was probably due to differences in rainfall patterns across the Ecosystem.

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