Soil biological communities undergo structural and functional changes as their environment deteriorate due to anthropogenic disturbances. The changes are primarily of scientific interest when the disturbances are local and without any observable effects on e.g. soil productivity and drinking water supply. Eventually the disturbances may cause increased perturbations with low resilience, that tend to create health problems or limit the yield of agriculture and forestry. The understanding of soil community dynamics then becomes a basis for environmental actions.