Integrating soil biodiversity knowledge into land management and decision-making remains a major challenge in soil ecology. Despite soil communities have been historically neglected, growing scientific and societal interest has increased attention to their role in ecosystem functioning. Trait-based approaches provide a framework to link community composition with environmental gradients and ecological processes. Soil mites (Acari: Oribatida) are particularly promising organisms for bioindication due to their abundance, diversity, and sensitivity to environmental change. However, the use of trait-based information from soil communities to support applied management and policy remains limited. This contribution explores the application of trait-based approaches to soil mite communities across Europe as a case study to assess current progress and identify methodological challenges relevant to the development of soil biodiversity indicators. Within the Horizon Europe project SOB4ES, we compiled a standardized dataset of soil mite communities from more than 400 sites distributed across 17 European countries, covering a broad range of climatic conditions, ecosystems, and land-use types. The dataset includes over 12,000 individuals representing approximately 300 species of soil mites. Functional trait information was assembled and analysed alongside conventional diversity metrics. Current analyses explored patterns in trait distributions along environmental and land-use gradients at continental scales, while also addressing issues related to trait selection, harmonization of trait definitions, and comparability among datasets. Preliminary analyses indicate that functional traits show consistent responses to broad environmental and land-use gradients. At the same time, methodological constraints remain evident, particularly regarding trait availability, standardization, and interpretation of functional metrics to consolidate practical methodologies allowing for practical uses in land management for soil health assessment and monitoring. Trait-based approaches offer opportunities for improving the ecological interpretation of soil biodiversity data. Their application in large-scale monitoring and management contexts shows significant progress and invites for explicit interdisciplinary expert involvement. In the context of the symposium “Soil Biodiversity and Conservation”, this contribution discusses challenges related to trait selection and standardization and considers possible pathways toward linking soil biodiversity with land management and policy frameworks.