Yes, it seems that it can, at least to the outside world. Within the wp-admin panel the files display as missing unless you “edit” each image individually… and any image that was initially uploaded with a space in it will remain broken (presumably because WP added an underscore or some such thing upon upload). I am grateful that I can rebuild the structure, though still wish there was a way to have the re-uploaded images appear in the medial library. On the plus side, 99% of the images will never need to be accessed in the media library again (photographer’s blog, so always adding new content).
