Decomposition of petroleum hydrocarbon is thought to be important for disposal and management of waste containing petroleum hydrocarbons. Composting process of cattle manure spiked with petroleum hydrocarbons was characterized under different temperatures and pollutant contents. The pH of compost samples decreased after composting in most treatments except that with higher oil content. The highest Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) degradation rate 42.2% was found at 1% TPH concen-tration and temperature of 50 °C after 21 d. The contents of saturated hydrocarbons (SH) fraction declined, and aromatic hydrocarbons (AH) decreased first and increased at the end of composting. The polar fraction (PF) behaved the same as that of AH at 20 °C, but decreased in the end at 50 °C. The 3-ring and 5-ring Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocar-bons (PAHs) decreased and 6-ring PAHs increased at 20 °C, but 6-ring PAHs increased first and decreased at 50 °C. The catalase activity (CA) and polyphenol oxidase activity (POA) were inhibited under higher temperature and pollutant content, while dehydro-genase activity (DA) increased. The microbial diversity increased with higher incuba-tion temperature as shown by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis.