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(For details of specific items added or updated, please check the listings at the of this page) Since April 2016. • After Jon Johnston's untimely death from a mountaineering accident in April 2016, the role of Curator has transitioned to David Collins. Work continues on maintaining and improving the Museum website and incorporating 24 pallets of additional HP equipment that Jon had in storage into the Museum's collection of HP Hardware and Software. • We have also recently created a Facebook page (link at the bottom of this page) as another means of communicating about HP's computing history. • Although updates to this page won't be as frequent as Jon's were, as time permits we will post updates on developments in the HP Computer Museum. April 2016 • Big news for this period!

In probably our biggest accomplishment ever, David Collins has refurbished our original 2116A computer into fully operational order. Be sure to check out our video of the 2116A working with a 2752A Teletype.

The 2116A celebrates its 50th birthday on November 7, 2016. • We also added a number of new software titles. Martin Hepperle contributed and for the 200 Series. Michael Graham donated for the 700 Series, and Bob Lenk gave us a very interesting that includes HP-UX 5.2, 5.5, 6.0 and 6.2 for the 300 Series. • Jim Cotton donated the manual for the RGB DIO interface card which includes a very handy schematic. • We also added a new to our collection. This 16-minute video from 1994 positions the 3000 range relative to Unix systems.

February 2016 • During the period, we added a number of smaller hardware items including several font cartridges, modem, and DIO DOS Coprocessor. • We added a profile for a new HP division, the.

QTD was primarily an instrument division but did make a few communications products for the computer industry. • We significantly upgraded our profile of the based on the recently published book Where It All Began.Again by Les Bailey et al. Les also contributed several dozen division newsletters which are now scanned and available on the division profile. • We have also posted two dozen new manuals including rare manuals for the fibre MUX and paper card reader. • We have accumulated a large collection at our staging location in Los Angeles awaiting consolidation for shipment to Melbourne in June. Please let us know if you have anything (or know someone who might have something) to add to that shipment.

December 2015 • One of our long-time benefactors, Ian Johnston, donated some more items to the museum. This included some software from HP's South Queensferry Division in Scotland - which teaches digital communications and software for controlling the 3078A noise and interference test set. This software runs on 200 Series computers.

• We have also posted some 'new' drivers for HP DeskJet 500 Series printers from the early 1990s. This includes for the DeskJet 550C and for the DeskJet 500 range.

• Dominique Berget is still hard at work. He recently reverse engineered the DIO ROM which holds BASIC 5.1 for 200 Series computers. • HP Colorado Springs Division veteran Les Bailey has written a book on the Division titles 'Where it All Began Again'. We can't wait to read our copy. Les is also sending us original source materials to archive.

• We have posted some new manuals including the users manual for the 100LX and several manuals for HP SICL and VISA from the mid 1990s (details below). October 2015 • During the period, the museum met a wonderful new friend - David Collins. David worked as an engineer for HP for almost 30 years. And, he is very handy with the old gear. In the last month, David has fixed a number of our defective machines including the 9100, 9202, 2114 and several 9817s.

Best of all, David only lives about three kilometers from the museum. Thanks for everything!

• Our HP Portable/Portable Plus benefactor Dave Frederickson, contributed three new software titles for the Portable and HP-150, including for the Portable Plus and GW BASIC for the 100 Series. • Dominique Berget donated a DIO interface card and we added a dedicated page for the color monitor (for use with the 9845C and the 9020C. • Marv Patterson was the lab project manager for the HP 7580A large format pen plotter. The 7580A was the world's first grit-wheel paper-moving pen plotter and the most significant plotter introduced in the last 30 years of the 20th century. Marv has written a terrific, detailed history of the genesis of the project.

David Collins working on 2114B front panel tests. August 2015 • During the period, we received some more manuals from Adolf Specht in Vancouver for our page. • The very productive and industrious Tony Duell sent us another 21 schematics of HP products that he reverse engineered (details below). • Paul Berger from Nova Scotia sent us the for 200 Series HP BASIC 4.0.

• We have had a glitch on our site from a recent server upgrade. The search function and document downloading will be disabled until the end of August. May 2015 • It was another slow period for the museum. For the second consecutive year, I went to Nepal to climb Mt Everest and take an original HP-35 calculator to the summit (with rebuilt battery pack including lithium-ion batteries to withstand the -30C to -40C summit day temperatures). Again, the expedition ended in tragedy.

20 people were killed on April 25 when an avalanche triggered by an earthquake swept across the center of base camp. My climbing team was on a vertical ladder near the top of the icefall when the earthquake struck. A massive avalanche off the Everest horseshoe glacier passed us by only 10m to our left.

• We did obtain some 1969 editions of magazine from our benefactors Don DiGalbo and Peter Adamiak. • Rik Bos turned us on to a very interesting Dutch movie () that included and HP-120 computer. • Bob Rosenbloom donated a copy of the monitor operating and service manual. The curator scales a vertical ladder while guides Damian Benegas and Eric Murphy calculate provision loads. March 2015 • During the period, we updated our section on HP Australia to include the most significant initiative ever undertaken by the company in Australia.

Former general manager Bill Wood was good enough to author a brief history of HP's, previously known as the Australian Telecom Operation. • Dave Frederickson was busy again in February. Dave scanned and sent us all editions of the as well as numerous HP palmtop catalogs. • Rik Bos sent us another gift package which included a 9877A interface as well as some rare manuals for the and data capture terminals. • HP opened its new customer demo centre in Melbourne in February.

Working with Paul Bell of, we set up a number of display stations showing off some classic old HP computers, including our 2116A. Paul Bell is proud of his new audio oscillator while Ron Maskell loads a new tape onto the demo 2116A system. January 2015 • We added another movie clip featuring HP products thanks to a suggestion by Robert Van Mellaert of Belgium. An HP 9837 and many other products appear in the 1986 film. • Paul Berger of Nova Scotia sent us for Series 200/300 computers. This is our oldest version of HP-UX. Joachim Buehrmann-Schultz of Berlin sent us a copy of the for the 7090A.

• Keith Davey of Alcoa donated an HP 1000 A990 along with numerous manuals and peripherals when Alcoa closed its Geelong plant in December. We spent some time during the month working on our computers. We now have at least two working versions of each model including: A400/A600/A700/A900/A990. Hopefully, we will eventually develop some capability with the RTE-A operating system.

• During the period, we also upgraded our server and back end. We were partially off line for 24 hours, but are now happily running php 5.4 and mySQL 5.5. November 2014 • The September/October period was a busy time for marketing-related updates to the web site. To spice up our major product pages, we added original HP marketing photos from the time.

A total of 200 photos were added covering 300 products. • We also added some new video material including seven and five. We added the final two editions of magazine to complete our collection of that publication (a special thank you to Jacob Schwartz). • A longstanding technical issue with old HP computers has been the use of 8' floppy discs with the 9825.

Because there are no longer any functioning 9825 disc utility tapes, you can no longer initialize new discs for use with the 9825 and the standard 98217 disc ROM, making it impossible to store new programs. Using Ansgar Kueckes' HPDir utility, we have created which can be used to make physical discs for the 9825 using a 9895A disc drive and a standard PC. September 2014 • During the period, we received a donation from our friend Carl Cristini at Qenos, Australia. Qenos donated two working computers, three 2397A terminals, four 7959B disc drives (two working) and two 9144A tape drives (both working). • We also received a donation from Simon Hiscox in Croydon Victoria. Simon donated a 9000/E55 server and a 9000/G40 server along with 15 SCSI disc drives in an HP cabinet. Simon also gave us 15 9000/712 workstations and two workstations.

• Chris Osborn donated a terrific old software title for the classic HP-150: the original version of. Chris inspired us to put together the world's best HP-150 workstation including: AutoCAD, Windows, Lotus 1-2-3, Diagraph and some other classic software for the 150. July 2014 • It has been a very productive period for the museum. We posted another 70 to our collection. We now have over 350 ads, including 150 from the 1960s and 1970s.

If you like old ads, be sure to check out our old HP as well. We have them going back to 1981 when HP first started advertising on television. • In May, we were contacted by Dave Frederickson. Dave scanned all of Hal Goldstein's magazines which we have now posted on the site. This publication ran from 1986 through 1991, telling you everything you need to know about the and. The Portable Paper also issued a subscriber's disc each year containing loads of software for the computers.

Behringer Usb Audio Driver Free Download. That software is. • We also posted some new service manuals including those for the Portable Plus and the 3421A HP-IL data acquisition unit.

• Thanks to Dave Bryan and Steve Robertson, we have now posted the latest full version of MPE V software. You can use this software to run the classic 3000s going back to 1980. May 2014 • The museum has been neglected for the last few months.

I spent the entire month of April in Nepal on a Mt Everest climbing expedition. The expedition ended in disaster. On April 18, an avalanche swept accross the top of the icefall, just below camp 1.

The avalanche killed 16 Sherpa guides, including three from our team. It was devastating. The avalanche made 2014 the deadliest year in Everest history, and all climbs from the Nepal side were cancelled. Curator with Mt Everest on the left, Mt Lhotse in the centre. March 2014 • The big development this period has been the arrival of a pallet of items from Amsterdam. Danny Vandepol of Belgium sent us a computer, card reader and a Teletype 33 machine. Both the 2114B and Teletype are in beautiful cosmetic condition.

At this tage, the only functional problem with the 2114B appears to be with one of the capacitance switches on the front panel. • We received some additional goodies in our Amsterdam pallet courtesy of Martin Willemsen and Rik Bos.

These included Martin's immaculate plotter and a couple of (3077A and 3075A). A big thank you to Rik and Danny for all the effort they put into organizing the shipment!

• Want to get your 9000/300 as tricked out as it can be? Ansgar Kueckes has been working as tirelessly as ever. He has put together on Series 300 computers. January 2014 • It has been another big period for us with software archiving.

Thanks to the very clever J David Bryan, you can now get your old 21-MX computer going even if you don't have any software or original mass storage hardware (using ). Dave has successfully archived both and. He has also contributed a number of manuals that we were previously missing. Dave is the worldwide expert on these systems. If you have one, you will want to know him. • We also did a lot of work with software for HP3000 PA RISC systems.

We have archived MPE/iX, 5.0, 5.5 and 6.0. Time to put that old 3000/925 back to work. • On the lighter side, we have also added a section to our Fun Stuff selection. Be sure to check out all the new. October 2013 • We made a lot of progress archiving HP-UX software for computers, including versions 7.0 and 9.0. This software is in the form of.hpi images (tape and hard disc) for use with, as well as CD ISO images.

If you have original media for version 8.0 or anything earlier than 7.0, we would be keen to borrow it. • We also succeeded in archiving HP-UX software to HP-IB discs for computers (as well as ISO copies of CD software).

We have full software for versions 9.04 and 10.20. We have archived the support and utility tapes for version 8.02, but not the operating system itself. Please if you have this version or earlier versions we could borrow.

• We have added a software section for computers. These computers did not work with HP-IB drives (only SCSI). Our archived software consists of ISO copies of CDs. • During the period, we also added a couple dozen more manuals for 3000 systems (details at the bottom of the page). • We are currently working on archiving software for 3000 systems, MPE V as well as MPEXL. August 2013 • Over the last period, we have provided materials to some of our favorite preservationists to assist them with their projects.

Dominique Berget has built a replacement board for the BASIC ROM for the 200/300 Series. This board provides for instant boot up on these machines (to BASIC 4.0). The ROM contents, PCB layout and schematics are published on the 98603 pages.

Dominique will do the same for BASIC 5.1 if we ever obtain a 98603B board. Dominique is also working on a video interface to enable us to use regular VGA monitors with various HP video interface boards. • Larry Atherton is busily working on his re-manufacturing process. He has already succeeded in rebuilding the tape drive. Now, he is trying to solve the mystery of floppy disc initialization (without utility tape) and maybe even look at the 9831A system ROM. • We have also done a lot of testing of old products over the period.

We have updated the collector's notes on about twenty products (see hardware below) to provide our latest findings on reliability. • We have spent a lot of time with early HP-UX software on Series 300/400, 800 and 700 machines. We hope to archive and post this software during the coming period. • Technical help. We spent several man days without success trying to get console output from our working computers.

It was no problem getting console output from the near-identical 3000/922LX and from other old 800 Series computers. Please if you know anything about these machines. • The museum web site has grown in popularity. We have had over 15,000 unique visitors per month over each of the last three months. June 2013 • Our favorite Dutch benefactor, Rik Bos, contributed more than a dozen new software titles for our emulation systems. • We received a number of new hardware items in a large delivery from America. New items include an computer from Bruce Claremont in Colorado, a system ROM for the 9815A from Wyell Grunwald and a modem (from eBay).

We also added and protocol analyzers. • Evan Rudderow a number of HP 3000 manuals as well as application notes. Bruce's A990 came with some new HP 1000 manuals (see details below). April 2013 • The most exciting new item we received during the period was a monitor. This was HP's first high-resolution digital color display (from 1984). The monitor is very rare and was 100% designed and manufactured by Conrac Corporation. We were able to get our unit going with a 200 Series computer using a 98204B interface.

• The most exciting development of the period comes from Rik Bos of the Netherlands. Working with David Bryan and Ansgar Kuekes, Rik created a virtual disc drive for booting and running HP-1000 A-Series computers. So, if you have one of these computers (but no HP software or mass storage devices), you can get it going using Rik's (RTE-A version 6200). February 2013 • The first two months of the year were fairly quiet at the museum. I was away for five weeks mountain climbing in Argentina. We did add a few new products and some new documentation (see below).

• While travelling, I swung by the San Francisco Bay Area to consolidate a shipment of items we have been collecting in the US over the last six months or so, to ship by sea to Australia. So, we should have a fun pile of goodies arriving near the end of April. • Our web site continues to grow in popularity. We have had over 12,000 unique visitors in each of the last four consecutive months. Enquiries through the web site now account for over ninety percent of the product and document donations we receive. A big thank you to all our donors over 2012! December 2012 • We have had good fortune in the last couple of months.

Our friends at the Shell refinery in Corio, Victoria have donated a number of items including a, some manuals (see list below) and two DAT drives. In January, we hope to collect another A900, a 3000/928 and a 7974A tape drive. Special thanks to Graham Grills for being so generous with his time (and equipment).

• We also had a very distinguished visitor to the museum. Nobel prize winner (2005) lives in Perth and dropped by when he visited Melbourne. Barry has a fascination with old calculators. In his spare time, Barry discovered that most peptic ulcers are caused by a bacterium and can be cured with antibiotics.

Barry is now looking at ways to use the bacterium to combat asthma. Curator with Nobel prize winner Barry Marshall at the museum in December, 2012. October 2012 • This was a very busy period for the museum's document scanner. We added about 200 new manuals and promotional brochures accross a range of products (see details below). We also added to our collection of and magazine. August 2012 • We added some new software titles (mostly for the HP-150), including, and.

• We also added some new hardware items (mostly for the 700 Series), including and video. • We also added 32 new manuals and brochures, accross a range of products. • We finally got around to researching a solution to the problem of 'screen mold' on 264X and 262X terminals and 9845 and 9835 computers. This problem is caused by the degradation of the glue layer that secures a glass plate to the front of these CRTs. A procedure (including photos) for fixing this problem is outlined on the page.

June 2012 • We have added a number of new software titles for: 200 Series - Digital Filter Design, CP/M-68K and Multi-FORTH; 80 Series: DBASE-II, Perfect Pac, File Manager; 120/125 Series - SpellStar/100; 70 Series - 75 I/O Utilities. Most of the new software was donated by Tom Moore from California. • We have also added a few new hardware items, including: disc drive, portable data acquisition unit, 82165A GPIO/HP-IL interface and GPIO interface for Vectra. • We also did a trade with that clever Dutchman, Rik Bos. Rik is one of those really smart guys who can fix anything, so we gave him some old 9830 junk in exchange for him fixing some PPU ROM/RAM boards for our. April 2012 • The last two months has been mostly focussed on handheld computers.

We have added a number of new for the HP-94 and 70 Series computers. • We have archived most of the. We are still looking to obtain Games I, Mass Media Duplication, Math II and Test Statistics Pacs. Special thanks to Rik Bos for giving us a 71B with HP-IL interface to help with the software archiving. • We are also working to fix some 500 Series items (mostly power supplies and monitors). Our main objectives are to get our 9020 going again and to see if we can get our running. February 2012 • In January, we received a consolidated shipment from the USA with several months of accumulated treasures.

Among the new hardware items we added were a, UPS, and a. • Since our last update, we have added another 75 documents (manuals and promo literature). About fifteen of the new documents were very rare manuals. • We have also added a few more software titles, including, and software for the rare terminals. • Sadly, one of our great benefactors, Stan Kurzet, passed away last year. Stan owned Infotek Systems.

Stan's wife Ann donated a big collection of and HP items. We have spent a lot of time testing the Infotek products, and they are nothing short of amazing. Among many other things, Infotek sold a board swap set that made the HP 9830A faster than a 9845.

December 2011 • The last two months has been a busy period, particularly in the HP 3000 area. We recently uploaded another 180 manuals (mostly from the 1990s and late 1980s). We now also have CDs that include most manuals written for MPE and HP-UX operating systems and applications from the late 1980s. • We have added three new categories to our software archives.

The new categories are and and. So, you can now boot up that old HP system computer that has been sitting in the living room all these years! October 2011 • Over the last two months, we have been working with quarter-inch cartridge tapes. These tapes rarely have a life over 15 or 20 years.

To save the software stored on these tapes, it is necessary to replace the internal drive belt. Instructions for doing this can be found on the page. Please let us know if you have any original HP software on quarter-inch cartridge tapes, especially for 1000, 3000 and 500 Series computers. We will be happy to save the software in exchange for making an image of it. • We have finally gotten around to getting some of our old computers going.

We now have working versions of the 37, 37XE, Micro and Micro LX. We have also managed to (mostly) install MPE onto a hard disc for these computers and to image the hard disc. August 2011 • The period was relatively quiet for the web site. A number of HP 3000 manuals were added.

• We put in a fair amount of work with Achim Buerger on his. Achim developed some software on a 9830 to read the ROMs of a 9821 in order to add the 9821 to his emulation stable.

Unfortunately, one of the memory control boards in our 9821 died before we could complete the read. So, fixing that board will become another project.

June 2011 • During the period, we received a pallet of 9830-vintage items from Adolf Specht of North Vancouver, BC. The shipment included a lot of rare items and a wide range of Infotek Systems products. Because the products were so innovative, for the first time, we have added a page for a third-party vendor. • Our long time HP friend Frank Van Greeken found some more old plotter manuals that he sent to us through Paul O'Donnell.

The manuals included 7550 Plus, Draftpros and DraftmMaster SX/RX/MX. • We have also received and posted the original version of from 1992, thanks to David Hawkins in the UK. April 2011 • Our web site continues to receive more visitors. We had almost 12,000 unique visitors in February. • We added a few new hardware items, including, a and the rare for HP-260 terminals. • James Carter in the UK sent us another terrific video clip from 1984. The clip featured the 9836C in the British series.

February 2011 • Our web site got a lot more traffic in 2010. November was our first month with more than 10,000 unique visitors. December and January also had more than 10,000 unique visitors. 72% of our visitors come to us via bookmarks and 7% come via links from other web sites. Only 21% come from general web searches. • During the period, we updated the collector's notes on about 40 hardware items to provide our latest experience with machine reliability and common service issues (details below).

• We extended our postings of HP through 1998. • Olivier De Smet now has his 200 Series emulator working. It's amazing. December 2010 • We had a big win in November when Charlie Brett contacted us. Charlie is an ex-HP Fort Collins employee and has been a pretty good pack rat over the years.

The big donation from Charlie was software. This enabled us to get our 9020 going and to open the 500 Series software section. • The other big donation we had this period came from Agilent Australia. They are moving out of their headquaters building in Melbourne and doing some house cleaning.

They gave us a number of classic 79XX disc drives as well as 6 units of HP 9000 and 380 computers. But, the main contribution was and measurement software and the final version of HP Pascal for 680X0 workstations - version. • We also uploaded a number of major new software programs for the HP 250 including, and, courtesy of Dick Ur. October 2010 • Over the last two months, we have added 30 new hardware documents and 30 new software documents as well as 15 new hardware items (details below). • We have also made significant additions to the profiles of to add more business performance content. • From our great friend and benefactor, Chuck House, we received a complete set of HP and an almost-complete set of HP's newsletter. August 2010 • We added some new software titles including the very-useful operating system for the HP 250 (which enables you to use 9133/9134 hard discs).

We also added the system software for the. • We added a few new, including ads for the 95LX, HPMenu for the 3000 and impact dot matrix printers. • It was a very busy period for scanning. We scanned and uploaded another 300 manuals and promotional pieces (see details below). June 2010 • We have recently added about 30 new manuals and promotional pieces, mostly related to the HP (see below).

• Our big coup for the period was finding software to emulate the 2622D terminal using a standard PC. So, now you can boot your HP 250 computer using software thanks to Dick Ur of Irwindale, California.

Dick has donated over two pallets of old gear related to the 250/260. We are looking forward to its arrival in Aug/Sep. • During the period, we also added eleven, mostly minor, new hardware items (see below). April 2010 • The last two months have focussed on hands-on product work with minimal web updates.

We added about 40 new photos and the same number of internal links to aid navigation. • The main addition to the web site was 45 new product schematics created by that prolific Englishman Tony Duell (see details below). February 2010 • We added to our profiles of HP divisions. Bob Reade donated a collection of the company's newsletters from 1963 through 1975. • Gene Dreher donated two pallets of items including HP 3000, 200 Series and HP 150 stuff. We were able to add a number of new titles (software and manuals) to our 200 Series collection including the.

• We also added a profile of HP's and would certainly appreciate more information on it. • In all, we added 70 new manuals (see details below) and about 90 editions of the Neely newsletter. December 2009 • We added significant new information to our, including more information on product introductions and product line performance. • We updated the section of our HP Australia information to include Inform magazines from the early 1990s.

• We added 15 new hardware items (see details below). • We have been scanning like crazy recently and have added 400 new documents, primarily promotional literature and product data sheets from the 1970s and 1980s. October 2009 • We have added two new from Australia including the 1991 Quality PCs 'Shark' ad and the 1992 LaserJet IV 'Champagne' ad.

• We have added three new clips of HP products in including Knight Rider, The Associate and Look Around You. • We received and added a lot of new promotional material including and 250/260 Communicator magazines. • We have also added a dozen or so new software titles including five new programs (eg Games Pac II) and for the 200 Series. • We also added another 15 new hardware items and about 90 manuals (see detailed list below). July 2009 • We've spent a lot of time over the last two months scanning PC boards for various hardware.

About 150 new images were uploaded. • We also added several hardware products, primarily consumables, that were distributed by HP's. • Ian Johnston, a favorite museum contributor, gave us his collection, fascinating hardware and software products produced by HP's (whose profile we also added).

• Our friend Helmut Reinhardt donated his collection of OEM News, Computer Focus and HP Channels to significantly expand our collection of (published for HP business and channel partners). May 2009 • In the last two months, we added several new hardware and software items, 30 manuals and 100 or so images. We've also added video clips featuring HP computing products from the 1980s Silicon Valley TV show 'Computer Chronicles'. Products with new video clips include:, terminal,,,, and. • Greg McKay from right here in Melbourne donated a as well as a 7925, some printers and some terminals. We also got some 250 software, and this prompted us to finish archiving our collection of. • Our big addition for the period came from Sheila Isaacs in New York.

Sheila gave us an original (HP's very first computer) along with a tape drive, 2752A Teletype terminal and 2748 tape reader. So, we now have a complete original system (from 1966) including the 2116A, 2020, 2752A, 2753A tape punch and 2737A tape reader. March 2009 • We had a bonus month in February. Former HP Germany Sales rep Helmut Reinhardt donated an almost-complete collection of Data Systems and from the 1970s.

He also donated an almost complete collection of from 1980 through 1985. These magazines significantly improved our knowledge of product prices, intro/discontinuance dates and even sales volumes. We were also able to add another 25 to our collection. February 2009 • 'What's New' section has been opened!

You can get the latest news here as well as the list of recently added items. • We spent most of 2008 restructuring our web site and databases to make the site easier to maintain, backup and restore. • The most interesting new section we have added is on. We have added brief profiles of the divisions that actually made the magic, and we have linked most of the products with their originating divisions. • Many of our products now have links to print advertisements of the time.

• We have added two new publications to our Museum Resources section -, and. • We have added an Advanced Search feature to make it easier to retrieve information on product categories of interest (rather then the entire database). • The user forum is up and running! Registration is required. It also includes 'Classified Ads' section where you can trade your HP products.

(note that the forum has since been closed) • New Version of HP Quiz! Different questions, more interesting and more challenging!

Almost half of the native species in America are endangered because of invasive species. • Compared to other threats to biodiversity, invasive introduced species rank second only to habitat destruction, such as forest clearing. • Of all 1,880 imperiled species in the United States, 49% are endangered because of introduced species alone or because of their impact combined with other forces.

• In fact, introduced species are a greater threat to native biodiversity than pollution, harvest, and disease combined. • Further, through damage to agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and other human enterprises, introduced species inflict an enormous economic cost, estimated at $137 billion per year to the U.S. Economy alone.

• Of course, some introduced species (such as most of our food crops and pets) are beneficial. However, others are very damaging. Introduced species are not good guests The greatest impact is caused by introduced species that change an entire habitat, because many native species thrive only in a particular habitat. Florida’s fires are fueled by a tree imported from Australia. • When the Asian chestnut blight fungus virtually eliminated American chestnut from over 180 million acres of eastern United States forests in the first half of the 20th century, it was a disaster for many animals that were highly adapted to live in forests dominated by this tree species. For example, ten moth species that could live only on chestnut trees became extinct.

• Similarly, the Australian paperbark tree has replaced native plants, such as sawgrass, over 400,000 acres of south Florida, because it has a combination of traits (for example, spongy outer bark and flammable leaves and litter) that increase fire frequency and intensity. Many birds and mammals adapted to the native plant community declined in abundance as paperbark spread. The invasive zebra mussel is depleting the food of marine natives. • In similar fashion, aquatic plants such as South American water hyacinth in Texas and Louisiana and marine algae such as Australian Caulerpa in the Mediterranean Sea change vast expanses of habitat by replacing formerly dominant native plants. • The zebra mussel, accidentally brought to the United States from southern Russia, transforms aquatic habitats by filtering prodigious amounts of water (thereby lowering densities of planktonic organisms) and settling in dense masses over vast areas.

At least thirty freshwater mussel species are threatened with extinction by the zebra mussel. Other invaders, though they do not change a habitat, endanger single species or even entire groups of them in various ways.

Trout fishing is almost nonexistent in some American states because of a foreign parasite. • The predatory brown tree snake, introduced in cargo from the Admiralty Islands, has eliminated ten of the eleven native bird species from the forests of Guam. • The Nile perch, a voracious predator introduced to Lake Victoria as a food fish, has already extinguished over one hundred species of native cichlid fish there.

• A parasite can be similarly devastating. The sea lamprey reached the Great Lakes through a series of canals and, in combination with overfishing, led to the extinction of three endemic fishes. • The European parasite that causes whirling disease in fishes, introduced to rainbow trout in a hatchery in Pennsylvania, has now spread to many states and devastated the rainbow trout sport fishery in Montana and Colorado. • Herbivores can wreak great damage. The first sailors to land on the remote Atlantic island of St. Helena in the 16th century introduced goats, which quickly extinguished over half the endemic plant species. Some impacts of invaders are subtle but nonetheless destructive to native species.

Some alien species eliminate native species by breeding with them, altering the gene pool. • North American gray squirrels are driving native red squirrels to extinction in Great Britain and Italy by foraging for nuts more efficiently than the native species. Such competition for resources is not easy to observe, but the end result is the loss of a native species. • Hybridization, or cross-breeding, of introduced species with natives is an even subtler impact (no lineage goes extinct), but it is insidious because it leads gradually to the extinction of many native species, as their gene pools inevitably evolve to become those of the invader. Introduced mallards, for instance, are driving the native Hawaiian duck to a sort of genetic extinction by breeding with them. • Of 26 animal species that have gone extinct since being listed under the Endangered Species Act, at least three were wholly or partly lost because of hybridization with invaders. One was a fish native to Texas, eliminated by hybridization with introduced mosquito fish.

• Rainbow trout introduced widely in the United States as game fish are hybridizing with five species listed under the Endangered Species Act, such as the Gila trout and Apache trout. • The endangered, endemic Hawaiian duck is being lost to hybridization with North American mallards introduced for hunting. • The rarest European duck (the white-headed duck) is threatened by hybridization with the North American ruddy duck, which was originally kept as an amenity in a British game park. The ruddy duck escaped, crossed the English Channel, and spread to Spain, the last stronghold of the white-headed duck.

Invasion meltdown: when an invasive species triggers destructive traits in another species. Often invaders interact with one another to generate a problem where either species alone would be harmless. For example, ornamental fig trees in the Miami area for over a century stayed where planted, in people’s yards, because they were sterile.

Each fig species requires a particular wasp to pollinate it, and the wasps were absent. About fifteen years ago, the pollinating wasps for three fig species arrived independently in the region, and now these fig species are reproducing. At least one has become invasive, with seedlings and saplings being found many miles from any planted figs. More cases of this phenomenon, termed “invasion meltdown,” are likely to arise as more species are introduced and have the opportunity to interact with each other. Warding off the intruder.

Ballast water, packing material, and gardening plants: transportation for invasives. Keeping potentially damaging invaders out is the most cost-effective way to deal with introduced species. Targeting common pathways by which invaders reach our shores can slow or stop their entry.

Ship ballast water, wooden packing material, and horticultural plants are three prominent pathways for invasion that could all be monitored or treated more rigorously. A species that is introduced despite precautions can sometimes be eradicated, especially if discovered quickly. In the United States, a Giant African snail population was eliminated by a long campaign in Florida, and a federal-state cooperative effort is currently underway in California to attempt to eradicate the recently discovered Caulerpa alga invasion. Even if eradication fails, several technologies often can control invasive species at acceptably low levels. No method is a magic bullet, each can have drawbacks if misused, and each has failed when used against certain invaders, but each also has successes to its credit.

Biological, chemical, and mechanical control of invasives have had limited success. • Biological control entails introducing a natural enemy usually from the native range of the introduced pest. For example, prickly pear cactus from the Americas is well controlled on hundreds of thousands of square miles of Australian rangeland by caterpillars of a moth introduced from South America. A disadvantage of biological control is that some agents attack nontarget species, and it is very difficult to remove a troublesome introduced natural enemy once it is established. • Chemical control involves using a pesticide, such as an herbicide or insecticide. Although chemicals can effectively control some species (such as water hyacinth in Florida), they may have nontarget impacts, they are often expensive, and pests can evolve resistance to them. • In mechanical control, hand pulling or various kinds of machinery are employed.

For example, volunteer convict labor is used in Florida to cut paperbark trees and in Kentucky to rip out Eurasian musk thistle. However, some invaders cannot be easily found for mechanical removal or occupy a habitat (for example, the marine benthos) that is not readily accessible. • The newest technology for managing invaders is ecosystem management, in which the entire ecosystem is subject to a regular treatment (such as a simulated natural fire regime) that tends to favor adapted native species over most exotic invaders. Because it is so new, the specific ways in which ecosystem management can be employed must be determined in each type of habitat. Addressing the problem. International cooperation and management is the best solution. The numbers of introduced species are growing in the United States and elsewhere because of increased trade and travel, but the situation is not hopeless.

• Internationally, the Rio Convention of Biological Diversity (1992) recognized the threat and called for action to limit it. • A Global Invasive Species Program, formed by the United Nations and other international organizations, is beginning to answer this call with a series of programs designed to deal with particular sorts of introduced species. In the United States, a Presidential Executive Order in 1999 called for the formation of a Federal Invasive Species Council to render the federal response to introduced species more effective, and to foster cooperation among federal agencies, state agencies, and other stakeholders such as conservation organizations and private landowners. The Council has formulated a Management Plan that includes many activities to slow the influx of invasive introduced species and to deal with them more effectively once they are present. If all these policies (or global measures) and weapons are used in the battle against invaders, there is every reason to think that most native species and ecosystems can be protected against this threat. If our interest or support falters, the current wave of invaders will surely become a flood, leading to massive habitat change and extinction as much of the earth undergoes a massive biotic homogenization.

© 2000, American Institute of Biological Sciences. Educators have permission to reprint articles for classroom use; other users, please contact for reprint permission. Learn more links • • • • The Institute for Biological Invasions of the University of Tennessee From the University where Dr. Simberloff works, learn more about invasive species.

A great supplement to the author’s article posted on this site. The Invasive Species Council of the United States Government An informative site for everyone from the layperson to the scientist/ researcher. Learn about current issues in invasion biology and get the latest news in biology. Also, facilitates access to and exchange of invasive species data and resources.

Global invasive species database Search the database to find out about invasive species in your area and around the world. Click on the “100 of the Worst [Invasive Alien Species]” red button at the top right of home page for some interesting facts. Invasive species information & articles The Union of Concerned Scientists presents an overview of the problem, articles about featured invasive species, and a portfolio of such species in selected U.S. The Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project The Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk (HEAR) project provides technology, methods, and information to decision-makers, resource managers, and the general public to aid in the fight against harmful alien species in Hawaii. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species site The site serves as a central repository for scientific reports, online/realtime queries, spatial data sets, regional contact lists, and general information about introduced aquatic species throughout the United States. Get involved links • • • • Help Stop Invasives Audubon’s campaign again invasive species, with information and news. American Littoral Society If you live in a coastal community, get involved with the Littoral Society in your area.

It is a great way to get outdoors and clean up the environment. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) The USC offers tips on “what you can do to prevent invasive species,” from gardening ideas to selecting pets. Community action Get involved in eradicating the invasive species from your community! Click on the link on the left: What can I do about invasive species?

To download a fact sheet (MS Word document). National Invasive Species Information Center Information about general volunteer opportunities and other ways that the average citizen can help to control invasive species, organized alphabetically by type of organization.

ActionBioscience.org original lesson This lesson has been written by a science educator to specifically accompany the above article. It includes article content and extension questions, as well as activity handouts for different grade levels.

Lesson Title: Real-life Aliens: Introduced Species Levels: high school - undergraduate Summary: This lesson examines issues stemming from introduced and invasive species. Students can gather statistical information about local invasives, interview animal and plant inspectors at an international airport, investigate the pet parrot trade and more!

(To open the lesson’s PDF file, you need free software.) Lessons for middle school The following links will take you to middle school lessons available on other web sites: • » ESCAPE Exotic Species Compendium of Activities to Protect the Ecosystem (ESCAPE) is a collection of activities developed from the Exotic Species Day Camp Project for Educators. This package includes 36 user-friendly sets of lessons that incorporate experiments, art, music, and games. The project was conducted by Programs in the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network including Illinois-Indiana, New York, Ohio, Michigan and Minnesota.

In the “Sample Some Activities” section at the bottom, there are multiple sample lesson plans. • » Web of Life Game Play the “Web of Life” game online to discover how species in an ecosystem depend on each other to survive. Useful links for educators • » Aliens in Your Neighborhood The US National Park Service provides information and a curriculum guide with links to additional background information and resources. Currently the educator resources are designed for middle schools but a 9-12 curriculum is in development.

Useful links for student research In addition to the links in the “learn more” section above: • » Global Environmental Change: Introduced Species This book is the fourth installment in the Global Environmental Change series created by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The information and activities are written for grades 9-12.

The book can be ordered online through NSTA. • » Invasivespecies.gov This is the gateway to U.S. Government efforts concerning invasive species. On this site you can learn about the impacts of invasive species and the Federal government’s response, as well as read select species profiles and find links to agencies and organizations dealing with invasive species issues.

• » Invasive Species Management For information on local problems with invasive species, contact a local fish and wildlife management agency office. State agencies listings at Invasive species information from Australia’s Dept. Of the Environment & Heritage.

Department of Agriculture USDA Extension Service’s educational programs: USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service: • » CITES Information from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora.

• » The Pet Parrot Trade This is a 2000 article on efforts to save Brazil’s Lear’s macaws from extinction. You can also search the Internet for other “international pet trade” articles. General References: • » Calow, P. Handbook of Environmental Risk Assessment and Management. Oxford: Blackwell. • » Clayton, D.H. Moore (eds.).

Host-Parasite Evolution. General Principles & Avian Models.

Oxford: Oxford University Press. • » Hanski, I.A. Gilpin (eds.). Metapopulation Biology. Ecology, Genetics, and Evolution. San Diego: Academic Press.

• » Gittleman, J. Carnivore Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution.Cornell University Press. • » Pickett S.T.A., R.S. Shachak, and G.E. Likens (eds.). The Ecological Basis of Conservation. Heterogeneity, Ecosystems and Biodiversity.New York: Chapman & Hall.

• » Raven, P. Williams (eds.). Nature and Human Society: The Quest for a Sustainable World.Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. • » Simberloff, D. Clout, and F. “Biotic invasions: Causes, epidemiology, global consequences and control.” Issues in Ecology No.

5, Ecological Society of America. • » Simberloff, D.

“Synergistic interactions of nonindigenous species: Invasional meltdown?” Biological Invasions 1:21-32. • » Simberloff, D. “Size patterns among competitors: Ecological character displacement and character release in mammals, with special reference to island populations.” Mammal Review 28:99-124. • » Simberloff, D. Towns and I.A.E. “Restoration of New Zealand islands: Redressing the effects of introduced species.” Pacific Conservation Biology 3:99-124.

• » Simberloff D. “Biological invasions: A growing threat.” Issues in Science and Technology 13:33-40.

• » Simberloff D., D. Schmitz, and T. Brown (eds.) 1997. Strangers in Paradise:Impact and Management of Nonindigenous Species in Florida.Island Press, Washington, D.C. • » Soule, M. Terborgh (eds.). Continental Conservation: Scientific Foundations of Regional Conservation Networks.Washington, D.C.: Island Press.

• » Weiher, E. Keddy (eds.). Ecological Assembly Rule: Perspectives, Advances, Retreats.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. • » Weiher, E.

Keddy (eds. Final Burn Alpha Emulator Roms Download there. ). Ecological Assembly Rule: Perspectives, Advances, Retreats.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.