Freshwater mussels are one of the most endangered animal groups in the world. Testing the relationship between traits and the risk of extinction of freshwater mussels would greatly facilitate the conservation and management of freshwater mussels. Mussels have unique life history. Since the glochidia of most mussels are obligate ectoparasites on the fins or gill filament of fish, the dispersal between different local population of mussels depend on host movement. In this study, we calculated local colonisation and extinction rates for 39 mussel species from 12 sites in the Poyang Lake basins, and used general linear models, AIC and SBC value to determine the relative importance of each biological trait in local colonisation and extinction rates. The result indicated that population structure and breeding time were the best predictors of local colonisation. Distribution density, reproductivity, locomotivity and conservation status were the best predictors of local extinction. Overall, local extinction rates exceeded local colonization rate, indicating that local populations are becoming increasingly isolated and suffering an extinction crisis. This study reveals that local colonisation and extinction rates of freshwater mussels were closely correlated with species biological traits and the biological traits can be used to predict local colonisation and extinction patterns. This provides a theoretical and practical foundation to the maintenance of mussel populations and biodiversity conservation.