Ecological Monitoring in Tropical Rivers: An IoT-Based System for Real-Time Water Quality Assessment and Ecosystem Protection

Tropical river ecosystems are increasingly vulnerable to anthropogenic pressures, yet conventional monitoring methods remain inadequate to capture the rapid and complex ecological changes needed for effective conservation. This study presents "Smart River Watch," a low-cost, IoT-based ecological monitoring system designed for real-time assessment of key water quality parameters—temperature, pH, and turbidity—in tropical river environments. The system combines Arduino Mega microcontrollers and high-precision sensors with ESP32 WiFi for continuous data transmission to cloud and mobile platforms. Field deployment across five ecologically distinct sites along Indonesia’s Martapura River demonstrated strong performance, achieving exceptional accuracy (r > 0.99; error < 2%) compared to laboratory methods, a 98.7% transmission success rate, and 23.4-hour operational autonomy. The innovation of this research lies in bridging technological accessibility with ecological needs: enabling high-frequency, real-time monitoring that supports early pollution detection, enhances ecological insight, and empowers local communities through user-friendly mobile interfaces. The cost-effectiveness, rapid deployment (15 minutes per site), and community-based usability of the system make it a scalable solution for biodiversity protection and adaptive water resource management in developing regions. These findings highlight a paradigm shift in ecological monitoring—merging digital innovation with ecosystem stewardship to better protect freshwater biodiversity in the face of accelerating environmental change.