The soil carbon pool is remarkably stable over time. We focus on forest sites and site conditions deviating from this general pattern and point out ecosystems that are particularly prone to greenhouse gas emissions from soils. We present evidence for the release of carbon from soils as consequence for land use change and forest ecosystem disturbance. Moreover, we show how these processes can be captured by simulation models. This is especially relevant for National Greenhouse Gas Reports, where the consequences of land use change and disturbance for the size of the carbon pool in terrestrial ecosystems needs to be reported. The presented case studies are efforts of the current COST Action 639 (BurnOut; www.cost639.net).