Automated conditioning system for mangrove nursery

Mangroves are vital in providing habitats for a diverse community of organisms. They are beneficial to the marine environment and people. However, threats are felt as the population of mangroves are affected by human activities. In addressing these problems, one technique that has potential in avoiding the annihilation of mangroves is building of nurseries. But in building nurseries, organizations fail to consider the parameters that may affect the growth of mangrove. Consequently, after replantation, the propagules die due to acclimatization. It is along this line that this project is undertaken to develop a conditioning system that will help the nurseries to replicate the parameters of their habitat in terms of pH, salinity, temperature, and depth of water. The prototype consists of two devices: one is the data acquisition and transmitting device and the automated conditioning nursery. The first device acquires the data parameters using different sensors interfaced with a microcontroller and sends data to the conditioning nursery. The automated conditioning nursery will then mimic the received data. Through GSM, the reference data and measured data from the controlled nursery will be send to the user for monitoring purposes. The validation result shows that the difference of the measurement of the parameters in the ecological habitat and conditioning nursery were not statistically significant. In addition, the propagules did not obtain discoloration, which is the reference to indicate a healthy propagule. Thus, the system developed in this study can be considered safely functionally operational with the specific features included in its design.