<p>Global warming is dramatically changing high-alpine plant and animal communities. Rock glaciers serve as habitats for cold-adapted organisms. However, the diversity of subterranean organisms in rock glaciers is still insufficiently understood. We investigated the species richness and abundances of fungi, vascular plants and invertebrates living in the uppermost scree layer on two rock glaciers in the Swiss National Park. As comparison, we investigated the biodiversity of glacier forelands and adjacent lateral scree fields. ITS technique has been used to analyse fungal communities, vegetation surveys for plants and subterranean sampling devices for invertebrates. The number of fungal OTUs on rock glaciers did not differ from values recorded in forelands and lateral scree fields. Species richness of vascular plants was lower on rock glaciers than in their forelands, but higher than in lateral scree fields. A surprisingly high, previously unknown diversity of subterranean invertebrates was discovered in the scree layers: 2 snail, 48 insect and 30 other arthropod species. There were slight but significant differences in the species assemblages of plants and invertebrates between the three habitats. Due to global warming, rock glaciers may disappear, but some alpine scree fields might potentially serve as habitat for cold-adapted organisms in the future.</p>