Crop rotations have agronomic advantage. Type of crop rotations in combination with no-tillage system has not been evaluated systematically in Brazil. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of the crop rotation on the soil microbiological properties (MP) and the effect of winter crops on summer crops in no-tillage systems in a tropical region. This ecosystem management has been carried out annually since 2002. The summer crops are continuous soybean, continuous corn and soybean/corn rotation (SM). The winter crops are: corn, sunflower, radish, millet, pigeon pea, sorghum and sunn hemp. Samples were collected in April 2008 at 0-0,15 m depth after summer crops were harvested. Microbial respiratory activity, the activity of the enzymes dehydrogenase, urease and phosphatase, the biomass C, N and P, qMIC, organic matter and organic carbon contents were determined. Data was analyzed by principal components analysis (PCA). Soybean/corn sequence influenced the MP more than continuous corn and continuous soybean. For soybean/corn sequence soil, the main variables selected by PCA were biomass C, N and P, respiratory and phosphatase activities, and qMIC. Pigeon pea, sorghum and sunn hemp strongly affected the soil properties when compared with the other winter crops.
