TY - GEN A1 - Edlinger, Anna A1 - Garland, Gina A1 - Banerjee, Samiran A1 - Degrune, Florine A1 - García‐Palacios, Pablo A1 - Herzog, Chantal A1 - Pescador, David Sánchez A1 - Romdhane, Sana A1 - Ryo, Masahiro A1 - Saghaï, Aurélien A1 - Hallin, Sara A1 - Maestre, Fernando T. A1 - Philippot, Laurent A1 - Rillig, Matthias C. A1 - Heijden, Marcel G. A. van der T1 - The impact of agricultural management on soil aggregation and carbon storage is regulated by climatic thresholds across a 3000 km European gradient T2 - Global Change Biology N2 - Organic carbon and aggregate stability are key features of soil quality and are important to consider when evaluating the potential of agricultural soils as carbon sinks. However, we lack a comprehensive understanding of how soil organic carbon (SOC) and aggregate stability respond to agricultural management across wide environmental gradients. Here, we assessed the impact of climatic factors, soil properties and agricultural management (including land use, crop cover, crop diversity, organic fertilization, and management intensity) on SOC and the mean weight diameter of soil aggregates, commonly used as an indicator for soil aggregate stability, across a 3000 km European gradient. Soil aggregate stability (−56%) and SOC stocks (−35%) in the topsoil (20 cm) were lower in croplands compared with neighboring grassland sites (uncropped sites with perennial vegetation and little or no external inputs). Land use and aridity were strong drivers of soil aggregation explaining 33% and 20% of the variation, respectively. SOC stocks were best explained by calcium content (20% of explained variation) followed by aridity (15%) and mean annual temperature (10%). We also found a threshold‐like pattern for SOC stocks and aggregate stability in response to aridity, with lower values at sites with higher aridity. The impact of crop management on aggregate stability and SOC stocks appeared to be regulated by these thresholds, with more pronounced positive effects of crop diversity and more severe negative effects of crop management intensity in nondryland compared with dryland regions. We link the higher sensitivity of SOC stocks and aggregate stability in nondryland regions to a higher climatic potential for aggregate‐mediated SOC stabilization. The presented findings are relevant for improving predictions of management effects on soil structure and C storage and highlight the need for site‐specific agri‐environmental policies to improve soil quality and C sequestration. KW - aggregate stability KW - agro-ecosystems KW - aridity KW - climatic threshold KW - environmental gradient KW - intensive agriculture KW - soil organic carbon Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16677 SN - 1354-1013 VL - 29 IS - 11 SP - 3177 EP - 3192 PB - Wiley ER -