Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for microorganisms and plants and generally coexists in two forms of inorganic and organic in soils. During decomposition of organic residues at least part of organic N mineralizes. The first inorganic product of N mineralization in soil is ammonia (NH 3 ). Ammonia would transform to nitrite and nitrate by Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter , respectively. It is well documented that N mineralization and nitrification rates are responsive to the environmental stresses and therefore can be used as environmental sensors (biosensors) to variety of environmental stresses. Wetting and drying cycles are predominant soil moisture conditions which most often happen in semi-arid to arid climates. The cycle is believed to influence the N transformations in soils. Plant residue decomposition plays an important role in nutrient cycling in soils. Uneven distribution of tree leaves under the canopy of deciduous forests, results in unequal concentration of soil organic matter. This is hypothesized that the unequal distribution of soil organic matter in the forest soils causes a spatial pattern in soil N transformation that is basically originated from the uneven distribution of tree leave accumulation. Moreover, the effects of deforestation have been comprehensively studied and it has been reported that N transformation is a sensitive biological index that is sensitive to management practices. Semi-arid forests have been subjected to change to dry land farming and management shift has influences the rate of N mineralization and nitrification. We hypothesized that the response of N transformations to moisture cycles depends on: 1) the history of the management practices and 2) distance from tree trunk that control the concentration of soil organic matter. Therefore, the objective of the current study is to investigate: 1) the effects of human management history on the response of soil N transformation to wetting-drying cycles and 2) the effects of the distance from tree trunk on the response soil N transformation to wetting-drying cycles. In the first experiment, composite soil samples were collected from two adjacent sites with different management practices including natural forest and deforested and cultivated site. In the second experiment the composite soil samples were collected along a 4m transect with 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 m sampling interval from an oak ( Quercus brantii Lindle) tree trunk. Four moisture treatments including two constant 0.3 and 0.5 water holding capacity and two wetting-drying cycles 0.1-0.5 and 0.1-0.3 were applied in the both experiments. Soils were incubated for 90 days at 25°C and the moisture was adjusted with distilled water. The rates of N mineralization, ammonification and nitrification were measured at the end of the incubation time. Factorial arrangements of soil moisture conditions and management (first experiment) or sampling distance (second experiment) were applied. Randomized complete block designs were used to analyze the results. Results indicated that moisture conditions significantly influenced the rate of the biological fluxes in both experiments. The greatest rates were consistently observed in the 0.1-0.5 moisture treatment whereas, 0.1-0.3 treatment decreased the rates of ammonification, nitrification and N mineralization. Ammonification was the most responding soil biological flux and therefore helped to discriminate the effects soil moisture conditions on the soil biological phenomena, while arginine ammonification represented the lowest response. The greatest rates of ammonification were observed in the oak natural forest, while the rates of nitrification and N mineralization were observed in the deforested and cultivated area. Distance from tree trunk significantly influenced the rates of the soil biological fluxes so the greatest rates were consistently observed at the first position when the samples were taken adjacent to the tree trunk and decreased as the distance increased. Overall, soil moisture cycles obviously revealed different effects compared to a constant level and distance from tree trunk control the fluxes via its effects on the soil C and substrates pools and availability. Keywords: Drying and wetting cycles, N mineralization, Deforestation and dry-land farming