In Mediterranean region, the climate is known for its heavy storms during spring and autumn, reaching high levels of rainfall intensity. Viticulture is one of the most erosion-prone land uses as the soils often present poor organic carbon levels, and tillage may be frequent to avoid competition between weeds and grapevines (Salomé et al., 2016). Moreover, this crop is often located on steep slopes, shallow soils, where rainfall generates runoff and soil losses. Numerous studies have shown that cover cropping is a relevant solution to limit runoff and increase soil aggregate stability and thus limit soil erosion (Garcia et al., 2018). The role of root traits to increase aggregate stability has been studied in grasslands or natural ecosystems, but few studies have explored the impact of plant traits in tilled agrosystems (Le Bissonnais et al., 2017). The aim of this study was to assess the respective role of root traits and soil characteristics in driving soil aggregate stability in Mediterranean vineyards. The experiment was carried out from 2016 to 2017 during one growing season, on a vineyard located in the South of France. Treatments consisted in 13 different service crop species and spontaneous vegetation in the inter-rows. Sown species were chosen to have a diversity of botanical families, life cycles, and growing behavior. Service crops were sown on plots of 30m length upon one row and the two adjacent inter-rows, under three contrasted soil management strategies since 2012: permanent vegetation, permanent tillage, and permanent vegetation tilled at n-1. At budburst, aboveground biomass was recorded in quadrats displayed in each treatment (38 quadrats in total). After biomass collection, two soil cores per quadrat were collected to measure root traits, inorganic nitrogen (N) content, soil organic carbon (SOC) and microbial biomass (MB). In each quadrat, soil sample in the 0-10 cm layer was collected to measure aggregates stability (3 repetitions per quadrat) and calculate mean weight diameter (MWD) of aggregates (Le Bissonnais, 1996). MWD values ranged from 0.31 mm (very unstable) to 1.19 mm (medium stable). Soil structural stability depended on previous soil management, and tillage strongly affected structural stability even after permanent vegetation and high SOC content. Overall, soil components and root traits equally contributed to soil structural stability. Root mean diameter and root mass density were positively correlated with MWD values, specific root length was negatively correlated with MWD values. Moreover, MWD values were higher under legumes species compared to graminoids species. These results suggest that in heavydisturbed ecosystems such as tilled vineyards, root traits are major factors explaining aggregates stability. Moreover, legumes species seemed more effective to increase aggregate stability. This could help vinegrowers for the choice of suited service crops to improve soil stability and resistance to erosion in vineyards.