Freshwater mussels are one of the most endangered animal groups in the world. Testing the relationship between the 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 living on the fins or gill filament of host-fishes, the dispersal between different local populations of mussels depends on the host movement. In this study, we calculated local colonization and extinction rates for 39 mussel species sampled from 12 sites in the Lake Poyang basins, and used general linear models of Akaike information criterion and Schwarz Bayesian Criterion to determine the relative importance of each biological trait in local colonization and extinction rates. The result indicated that population structure and breeding time were the best predictors of local colonization. Distribution density, reproductivity, locomotivity and conservation status were the best predictors of local extinction rates. Local colonization and extinction rates of freshwater mussels were closely correlated with species biological traits and the biological traits can be used to predict local colonization and extinction patterns. Overall, it indicated that those local populations were becoming increasingly isolation and suffering an extinction crisis when the local extinction rates exceeded local colonization rate. This study provides a theoretical and practical foundation to the maintenance of mussel populations and biodiversity conservation.