Strong links between aggregate stability, soil carbon stocks and microbial community composition across management practices in a Chinese dryland cropping system

•We compared aggregate stability, SOC stocks and microbial community composition across three management practices in a dryland cropping system.•Reduced tillage with residue incorporation enhanced aggregate stability and SOC stocks relative to conventional tillage with residue removal.•SOC stocks correlated strongly with gram negative bacteria (GN), and aggregate stability was positively related to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF).•SOC and stability of individual aggregate size classes are more closely related to microbial community composition than microbial biomass.•GN and fungi were the top two microbial predictors of SOC and overall aggregate stability.