High-resolution niche models via a correlative approach: Comparing and combining correlative and process-based information

► We compared correlative and mechanistic models to determine predictive ability. ► Our dataset included spatially-explicit thermal and prey GIS information. ► Mechanistic models appeared to be better predictors of lizard habitat occupancy, but may not have been expressed in ecologically meaningful metrics. ► Habitat models performed marginally well and were not improved by adding mechanistic components.