Research in LEGATO is conducted in regions of con-trasting geology, soils, climate and agricultural practices.We therefore expected differences in Sipabetween regions.Herein, we first introduce characteristics of the LEGATOstudy regions. Second, we show data on Sipaconcentrations intopsoils of paddy fields and discuss potential factors explain-ing differences in Sipabetween regions. We compare Sipaconcentrations in topsoils between rice fields and adjacentnon-rice sites (orchards, vegetable fields, forest) to test howrelevant land-use might be for Sipa. The results presented