Batch experiments were conducted for feces composting using an aerobic composting reactor with sawdust as bulky matrix. In the 14-day composting processes at 35 +/- 2 and 55 +/- 2 degrees C, compost samples were collected daily and chemical analyses and PCR-DGGE were carried out for investigating the influence of composting temperature on organic decomposition, nitrogen transformation, and microbial communities. At 55 +/- 2 degrees C, in addition to a slightly higher COD removal, nitrogen loss was greatly restrained. As organic nitrogen took about 85% of the total nitrogen originated from human feces, the suppression of ammonification process under thermophilic environment might be the main reason for less nitrogen loss at 55 +/- 2 degrees C. By PCR-DGGE analysis, the microbial community was found to undergo successions differently at 35 +/- 2 and 55 +/- 2 degrees C. Certain sequences identified from the compost at 55 +/- 2 degrees C represented the microbial species which could perform nitrogen-fixation or sustain a lower pH in the compost so that gaseous ammonia emission was suppressed. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.