【Objective】The relationship between biodiversity and community stability is a fundamental component of soil ecology. To explore effects of pollution on the relationship between soil nematode diversity and community stability, comparisons were made of nematode communities in woodlands vs. those in farmlands that were simulated to be contaminated with copper (Cu) or zinc (Zn) varying in concentration. 【Methods】Cu or Zn was added to fresh soil samples, which were convert to final concentrations of the minerals in dry soil equivalent to 0, 100, 400, and 800 mg•kg^-1 . For each treatment had three replicates, a total of 42 subsamples (14 treatments × 3 replicates) were prepared. The soil samples were incubated at 25°C for 23 days before nematodes were collected using the cotton-wool filter method. Comparisons were made in nematode community structure (abundance, diversity and functional indices) between soils different in pollution gradient and between habitats. 【Results】A total of fifty-two taxa of nematodes, belonging to four main trophic groups, were identified, 48 taxa in the woodland soil and 32 in the farmland soil. Bacterivores dominated both the woodland and farmland samples. Herbivores were the second most dominant trophic group in the woodland soil, but bottomed in the farmland soil. Nematode abundance in the woodland soil decreased with rising Cu and/or Zn concentrations. In the farmland soil, however, nematode abundance was lower when Cu and/or Zn concentrations were low and higher when they were medium or high. Bacterivores and the total of nematodes in a similar trend. In the woodland soil, omnivore-carnivore abundance decreased when soil Zn was the highest or low in concentration, and when soil Cu was medium and high in concentration. In the natural woodland soil, the gradient of heavy metal concentration had no significant effect on diversity of nematodes, but in the farmland soil, it reduced Shannon–Wiener (H’) index and increased nematode dominance (λ). High concentration of Cu significantly affected structure index (SI) of the nematodes in the farmland soil. In the woodland soil, basic index (BI) was reduced when soil Zn was low in concentration and increased when it was high. SI was also significantly reduced when soil Zn was high in concentration. In the farmland soil, the effect of soil Zn on nematode functional indices varied displaying a wavy trend. Principal component analysis (PCA) shows that in the woodland soil, nematode communities were similar to those in the control soil in all the treatments, except for treatments medium in Cu and/or Zn concentration and high in Zn concentration. In the farmland soil, as affected by treatments, nematode communities differed from those in the control soil. 【Conclusion】The soil nematode community in the woodland or farmland soil responds differently to the gradient of Cu and/or Zn contamination. In the woodland soil, the response is embodied mainly in overall abundance of nematodes, while in the farmland soil, it is in community structure, diversity, and ecological indices. The nematode community in the natural woodland soil is high in diversity and more able to tolerate Cu and Zn pollution than that in the farmland soil, which is relatively simple in the soil food web.