Investigations into the dynamic nature of composting environments are necessary to understand and ultimately optimise the complex processes that occur. In this study, various parameters were measured to investigate physical, chemical and biological changes that occur in compost during the production of Agaricus bisporus. In addition to monitoring the compost samples during mushroom cultivation, uninoculated samples were maintained for comparative purposes. Principal components analysis of the variables measured showed a clear distinction between the thermophilic Phase I composts, uninoculated Phase II composts and mushroom inoculated composts. Leucine assimilation, a novel technique to composting environments, is presented as suitable method for assessing microbial activity in such systems. Strict agreement between leucine assimilation and fluorescein diacetate (FDA) hydrolysis, a rarely used technique in composting environments, was not observed, suggesting that neither should be used as a sole measure of microbial activity in compost. Association of FDA hydrolysis with the culturable heterotrophic count suggests that FDA hydrolysis may,indicate bacterial as opposed to total microbial activity. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.