Nitrogen mineralization and denitrification potential in litter were measured during a dry and a wet period in a Bornean Lowland Evergreen Rain Forest (LERF) and two nearby Heath Forests (HF) of contrasting stature. Nitrification was very low or non-existent in all forest types and ammonification was the major constituent of nitrogen (N) mineralization. Rates of net N mineralization in the HFs on infertile sandy soils were lower than in the LERF on a more nutrient-rich clay soil or other LERFs, both during dry and wet conditions. We attribute the differences to the lower litter quality in the HFs compared to LERF. When dissolved organic nitrogen (DON-N) was included, N uptake was the same (15–17μgg−1d−1) in all three forest types. We conclude that N availability is the same in all three forest types and that N deficiency is not the reason for the reduced stature of Heath Forests compared to LERF. All three-forest types had denitrifiers present in the ectorganic layers but denitrification will only play a minor role in the N-cycle as nitrification rates were very low.