Leipzig and the Weisse Elster river valley are situated in the continental influenced Southern part of the North German - Polish lowland. In contrast to the low precipitation area of Halle (30 km West of Leipzig, annual mean of precipitation is about 500 mm) the climatic conditions tend to be subatlantic (precipitation up to 620 mm). The climate of grassland of the valley ecosystem is similar to city sites. On the contrary, the flood plain forest is characterized by an equable temperature regime during the vegetation period and remarkably higher relative atmospheric moisture. In earlier centuries the local climatological conditions must have been clearly wetter than today.