Three Bohemian Forest catchments, Plesne, Cerne and Certovo, were studied. These catchments have similar climatic conditions, relief and vegetation, but differ in their bedrock composition. The granitic bedrock in the Plesne catchment was more susceptible to phosphorus (P) leaching under acid conditions than was the mica schist bedrock in the other catchments. The goal of this study was to determine if higher P leaching from the Plesne catchment was associated with differences in microbial P transformations and enzymatic P hydrolysis. Phosphorus and nitrogen contents in soil microbial biomass (P-MB, N-MB; chloroform fumigation), C mineralisation rate (C-min; CO2 production by GC) and phosphatase activity (MUF-phosphate), were measured in three successive years. Phosphatase activity, P-MB, and C-min were used to characterise the enzymatic hydrolysis of organic P, microbial P accumulation, and microbial mineralisation rates of organic compounds, respectively. Soil chemical properties were characterised by C, N and P content, pH, and by oxalate-extractable P, Fe and Al. Spatial variability in N-MB, P-MB, C-min and phosphatase activity within the catchment was higher (coefficient of variation, CV