To reveal the effect of seasonal temperature increasing on nitrogen mineralization in soil of the water level fluctuating soil zone of three gorge reservoir areas in the Yangtze river tributary during the dry period, surface soils were collected from the water level fluctuating zone of Pengxi river crossing two hydrological sections, i. e. upstream and downstream and three water level altitudes, 155 m (low), 165 m (middle) and 175 m (high). We incubated the soil at 25 and 35 to determine the transformation rates of nitrogen in soil of Pengxi river basin during the dry period. The result showed that TN and NO3--N contents in the soil of upstream section and higher (175 m) altitude of water level were higher than those in downstream and low (165 m) altitude of water level, whereas the pattern for NH4+-N was different, with higher NH4+-N contents in downstream and low water level. The inorganic nitrogen was dominated by NO3--N, which accounted for up to 57.4%-84.7% of inorganic nitrogen. Generally, soil ammoniation, nitration and net N mineralization increased with the rising water level altitude and stream sections (P0.05). © 2016, Science Press. All right reserved.