Soil is a living, dynamic ecosystem. Healthy soil is packed with microscopic and larger organisms that perform many vital functions including converting dead and decaying matter as well as minerals to plant nutrients. Different soil organisms feed on different organic substrates. Their biological activity depends on the organic matter supply. Nutrient exchanges between organic matter, water and soil are essential to soil fertility and need to be maintained for sustainable production purposes. Where the soil is exploited for crop production without restoring the organic matter and nutrient contents and maintaining a good structure, the nutrient cycles are broken, soil fertility declines and the balance in the agro-ecosystem is destroyed. Soil organic matter - the product of on-site biological decomposition - affects the chemical and physical properties of the soil and its overall health. Soil ecosystem supports a complex of animal communities of which soil arthropods were of prime importance since they constitute the major component of soil mesofauna in all types of soils. The soil arthropods includes a variety of mites, collembolans, pseudoscorpions, centipedes, millipedes, symphylans, diplurans, proturans, hymenopterans, coleopterans etc. they play an important role in releasing nutrients and improve productivity within the forest ecosystem (less disturbed ecosystem) by decomposition process. Mostly they are present with numerically abundant in the undisturbed, natural forest. Among the soil arthropod Acarina and Collembola are the most diverse as well as abundant group. The present article reviews the research work done in this field with reference to India. A detail account of update distribution of acarines and collembolans (bulk of the soil fauna) and their ecology was given