The aim of present study is to elucidate the relationship between decay rate of soil organic matter, and the change of soil microbial population under the oak and pine forest soils in Kwang-nung plantation stand. The results obtained are as follows: 1) The correlation coefficient between decay rate and the soil bacteria is 0.84 and fungi 0.93. 2) The distribution of soil microbial population is higher in both F horizon of the oak forest soil, and F and H horizon of the pine forest soil. However, the number of soil microorganisms decreases with the depth in each forest soil. 3) The population of soil microbes is related to moisture content, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, and exchangeable calcium, except organic carbon in fungi. 4) The soil organic matter has been mainly decomposed by fungi, and the size of its population are governed by the factors such as moisture content, organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, and exchangeable calcium.